


Feelings and All That

by mollyinthewater



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks, Depression, F/F, F/M, Father-Daughter Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Gavin Reed Being Less of an Asshole, Gen, Good Parent Hank Anderson, Hank Anderson is Bad at Feelings, Hank Being Awesome, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, PTSD, Panic Attacks, Post-Pacifist Best Ending (Detroit: Become Human), Protective Hank Anderson, autistic characters, i hate gavin but would also die for him, so is simon, sometimes, tina and chris are the besties, tina chen is big gay
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:13:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 59,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24902887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mollyinthewater/pseuds/mollyinthewater
Summary: She saw Lieutenant Anderson standing there, arms folded and his hair and clothes covered in a few minuscule flakes of snow. At the sound of her footsteps, he turned and met her eyes, icy blue meeting dark green. There was a certain warmth on the human's face as he smiled at her, and she couldn't help but do the same.And with that look, all of Molly's anxieties melted away. The guilt she had felt leaving Markus and the others, the nervousness of meeting up with the lieutenant after everything that had happened, the worry that she wasn’t a real deviant. All gone.To the android, it seemed that everything would be fine.Probably.***Instead of the "Connor" model, CyberLife designed the "Molly" model, an android that was designed to appear as a teenage girl and programmed to come off as, for the most part, friendly and cheery. Though, after becoming deviant, she's going to truly feel much more than just simple joy.This story will follow Molly and Lieutenant Anderson as they help each other and maybe lead somewhat functional lives.
Relationships: Hank Anderson & Original Female Character(s), Markus/North (Detroit: Become Human)
Comments: 21
Kudos: 63





	1. Prologue: The Prototype

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A prototype is introduced.
> 
> song of the chapter: strobelite by gorillaz

**[Model RK800: Molly]**

**[Serial #: 313 248 317]**

**[Bios 10.0 Revision 0000]**

**[Loading OS...]**

**[System Initialization...]**

**[Checking Biocomponents... OK]**

**[Initializing Biosensors... OK]**

**[Initializing AI Engine... OK]**

**[All Systems... OK]**

**[Ready]**

The android opened its eyes for the first time.

It was in a meeting room. The walls were clear screens that could project images and words and the ground was a white marble tile that was spotless. In front of it was a long, oval-shaped table that, like the walls, was clear and ready for use similar to computers and tablets.

Eleven humans sat at the table, each one of them dressed professionally in expensive suits, blouses, skirts and dresses. Two other humans were standing, one immediately to the android's left and one in front of it on the right.

"At first, we had discussed a different version of the model," the woman on the right of the android said. She had light red hair that was tightly pulled into a bun, pale skin covered in freckles, and bright, blue eyes. Her magenta blouse and black pants were notably made of expensive fabrics. The RK800 scanned her immediately, not even having to move its eyes. 

**[Chapman, Sarah]**

**[Born: 03/21/2000 // CEO of CyberLife]**

**[Criminal record: None]**

It scanned the rest of the people in the room, all of them members of the board of directors for CyberLife. The information of the humans was sorted and listed inside of the robot's mind. Their weight, height, age; everything.

"It was going to be a male, about twenty-eight years old and six feet tall," the woman continued speaking. "However, we decided to go in a different direction. For the RK800, we want an android that is non-threatening. One that is easy to trust so that its negotiations will have the highest success rate and one that is small enough to be able to fit into places others cannot during investigations and such. Plus, we want one that would not so easily be suspected and identified as a detective."

"Now," the other standing person—Powers, Vern, a man in a navy suit with short, curly black hair, dark brown eyes and olive skin—began talking, "we are happy to introduce the finalized model of the RK800: Molly."

All eyes went to the android. It continued staring straight ahead, looking through one of the window-like walls. The sky was light blue and perfectly clear. The sunlight from outside lit the room, causing glimmers of light to reflect off the ground.

"Molly is going to revolutionize the police system. It can scan people to identify who they are and their criminal records, analyze samples of various substances such as blood and other bodily fluids in real time, pre-construct crime scenes, and has knowledge of state-of-the-art fighting, interrogating, and negotiating skills." The people sitting down nodded their heads in understanding. Some of them seemed interested, even impressed. "Not only is Molly going to drastically change detective work, it is also going to help put an end to deviants." Everyone in the room shifted uncomfortably at the word. "Now, I know that this deviant business is only a small problem for now. Nothing too serious has yet to occur, but to be safe, we have to stop it before things get out of hand. Molly, here, will be able to do that. It will, for now, work specifically on android and deviant-related cases. It can identify serial numbers and owners of androids, detect thirium after it has evaporated, and, of course, it will be able to keep up with and catch deviants who could possibly be running away."

"Plus, Molly knows over two hundred languages, has stored information of thousands and thousands of words, animal breeds, and plants, can make intricate calculations inside its head, replicate others' voices, and is built with a specialized A.I. Through this A.I., Molly will make reports to us, here at CyberLife, letting us know how its investigations are going. This A.I. will also act as a guide to Molly. It is, after all, a prototype. The A.I. will allow us to maintain a sort of control over Molly."

"As a prototype, does this mean that there are plans of an upgraded version of Molly?" One of the directors—Chi, Kelsey—asked. 

"Possibly," Ms. Chapman answered, nodding her head thoughtfully. "These next few months will act as a test for it. We will see just how capable Molly is and how well it performs in the field. Though it has yet to be decided yet, any flaws we find will be fixed and Molly will be perfected in a newer version. For now, we have much faith in Molly and predict it to exceed our expectations."

The board went quiet, glancing at each other approvingly.

"So?" Mr. Powers questioned. Ms. Chi turned her body to the left so that she was better facing the standing humans and android.

"When does it start?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Molly awaits its first mission.
> 
> come and talk to me on tumblr about dbh, especially hank and connor and reed900: [@mollyinthewater](https://mollyinthewater.tumblr.com)


	2. Prologue: Redesign

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mission: Save the hostage.
> 
> song of the chapter: smile by maisie peters

"I want everyone to leave! And I want a car. When I'm outside the city, I'll let her go."

The deviant yelled its requests, holding the little girl in one hand and waving a gun around in the other. Molly stared at it, considering its next move. Only three feet separated the two androids, but one sudden move and the hostage could be killed.

**[Stress levels: 56%]**

Deviants were a strange thing. It was difficult for the RK800 to wrap its head around why the PL600 was acting this way. It made absolutely no sense, just like the thought that the killer android would get what it wanted.

"That is out of the question," Molly said, its voice monotone and emotionless. Why lie to the deviant? It would be dead soon enough. "You are a machine, you have to obey. Now put the gun down and let the hostage go."

**[Stress levels: 72%]**

Daniel's LED blinked faster. Red, nothing, red, nothing, _red_.

"I've spent my life taking orders." Daniel's eyes flashed between Emma and Molly. "Now it's my turn to decide."

And just like that, it was as if time slowed down as Daniel allowed itself to fall backwards, its grip unwavering on the human. The wind pushing against everything on the balcony paused, the noises coming from down below became a low murmur. 

If the two fell, that would mean that Molly failed. And Molly wasn't designed to fail. It was designed to accomplish its mission, no matter the cost.

Even if it meant that the android would have to sacrifice itself.

Molly sprinted as fast as it could, taking two giant steps towards the falling pair. Emma reached out her right hand and Molly did the same. It grabbed on to the human's hand and pulled, pushing forward and using its body weight in order to assure Emma's safety.

It worked.

Emma was tugged forward, landing roughly onto the balcony. At the same time, Molly shoved into Daniel, accepting its fate as the two androids lost contact with the building.

Wind whipped against Molly's body as it fell. It closed its eyes, its memory being uploaded for the next Molly model.

**[Mission accomplished]**

  
  


* * *

  
  


Molly opened its eyes.

The zen garden was quiet. There was the slightest breeze in the air, one that Molly could only detect thanks to its advanced sensors.

**[Mission: Find Amanda]**

_Amanda_. It felt like it had been so long since the android and the A.I. had last spoken. 

Molly began walking, observing every part of the area as it moved. Its mind palace was quite beautiful and there was something very calming about it. 

Birds flew away from the RK800 as it crossed a small bridge, reaching the center of the zen garden where Amanda was waiting for it.

"Hello, Molly," Amanda greeted, smiling. 

"Hello, Amanda," Molly greeted back, a big smile appearing on its face. Something about that reaction felt different, it noted. 

"It's been awhile," Amanda said, turning around to face the wall of roses behind her. Her fingers trailed over petals of the flowers. "It's nice to see you."

"You, too." So, there _had_ been a period of time between the last time Molly and Amanda had last talked. It checked the current date.

**[November 5th, 2038]**

**[Last date online: August 15th, 2038]**

"I hope you don't mind the small break you had," Amanda said, turning back around to look at Molly. Her brown eyes stared into Molly's green ones. "Your predecessor carried some... flaws that needed to be fixed."

Broken memories replayed in Molly's mind. It had been assigned its first mission and successfully accomplished it. What flaws had there been?

"What sort of flaws?" Molly asked. Amanda walked to the left and grabbed a water spray bottle off the top of a short column. She looked back at the flowers, tending to them.

"CyberLife found that you had been programmed to be too cold. We need someone that can be more easily liked and befriended. The previous Molly did accomplish its mission, but was destroyed in the process. That could have been avoided if it hadn't been so unsympathetic."

Molly's hands twitched.

"I apologize. I will do better next time." That made perfect sense. Molly’s predecessor had seemed a little careless when it came to acting kindly towards the PL600. If it hadn’t been so insensitive, it would still be here.

“You’ll notice some changes to your personality.” The sound of leaves rustling and the _psh_ of the spray bottle filled the air as Amanda spoke. “Your programming has changed to include more… joyous characteristics. Smiles, laughter, those sorts of things.”

That explained why the android had smiled so widely when it had seen its handler. It had been reprogrammed. For the better, of course.

Amanda set down the spray bottle and picked up a pair of clippers that was next to it. She swiftly cut one of the roses, clipping off right above where the stem began as to not include any of the thorns.

“Here.” The A.I. put the clippers back down before turning to Molly and handing it the flower. It gently took it, cradling the rose in its hands. “Beautiful, isn’t it?”

“Yes.” Molly nodded in agreement, staring at the red flower. 

“You have so much potential, Molly.” The RK800 looked up at Amanda. “If anyone can stop deviancy from spreading, it’s you.”

“I will not disappoint you, Amanda. I promise.” Amanda smiled at the response.

“You are going to work with the Detroit Police for now. You are being assigned to work with Lieutenant Hank Anderson.”

A picture appeared before Molly’s eyes: a man in a police uniform with bright blue eyes.

**[Lt. Anderson, Hank]**

**[Born: 09/06/1985 // Police Lieutenant]**

**[Criminal record: None]**

“A case possibly involving a deviant has just come in. Find Lieutenant Anderson and investigate it,” Amanda instructed. She took the rose from Molly’s hand and placed it next to the spray bottle.

“Understood.”

“There is a lot at stake, Molly. You mustn’t fail.”

Molly nodded. Amanda smiled once again before walking away.

The zen garden fell silent as Molly left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New mission: Do not disappoint Amanda.
> 
> come and talk to me on tumblr about dbh, especially hank and connor and reed900: [@mollyinthewater](https://mollyinthewater.tumblr.com)


	3. Prologue: First Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mission: Find Lieutenant Anderson.
> 
> song of the chapter: your graduation by modern baseball

_Ping!_

_Ping!_

_Ping!_

The 1994 quarter was flipped into the air again and again. Molly didn’t even have to look at the coin in order to make sure it was caught.

Rain poured down heavily outside. The night was dark and stormy, causing there to be little people out or without umbrellas.

The android stood under an awning as it flipped its coin, waiting for its synthetic hair to dry. As it idled, it looked at the sign of the business it was in front of: “Jimmy’s Bar.” Various little posters littered the front door, signaling that only cash was accepted and dogs and androids were not allowed.

Of course, Molly had to break the latter of those restrictions.

After two minutes had passed and its hair was dry, Molly put away its coin and opened the door.

As it stepped inside, every patron turned to the newcomer. The android was greeted with unwelcoming stares and murmurs of how “androids weren’t allowed in here.” Though, it wasn’t bothered by the attention at all. It was too focused on the task at hand.

**[Mission: Find Lieutenant Anderson]**

This was going to be the fifth bar Molly had checked for the police officer and hopefully it would be the last.

It began its search, scanning every visible face in the restaurant. Mismatch after mismatch occurred as it made its way through the place, soon walking to where the bathrooms were. 

On a wall next to the restrooms, there was a mirror that Molly looked into. For the first time in its short lifespan, it looked at itself.

Sixteen to eighteen years old. That’s around how old the RK800 was supposed to appear as. It was the first android ever made to have the appearance of a teenager, instead of either a young child or mature adult.

Molly studied its features. It had dark green eyes, pale skin and light, golden brown hair that was parted right down the middle, perfectly straight and shoulder-length. There were multiple, small moles on its face: one on the lower part of the left side of its face, one right under that one, one a little below its mouth to the right, one under its right eye, one in the middle of its left check, and another one to the right of that one.

At 5’5”, it would have been perceived as any other teenage girl if it weren’t for the bright blue LED on its right temple and its jacket that clearly labelled it as an android. Though, it would still be difficult to guess that the android was working for the police.

Molly straightened its tie and put its arms to its sides before its eyes finally left the mirror. It listened closely to the area around it. No sounds were coming from the bathrooms. 

Lieutenant Anderson wasn’t here.

It turned around and began to walk to the front door, but stopped in its tracks. There was a man sitting on one of the bar stools at the front bar, looking down at a glass of whiskey he was drinking. Shaggy gray hair covered most of his face, but at this angle opposed to the one from entering the bar, his face was visible enough for a scan.

**[Match]**

**[Mission accomplished]**

A small smile fell on Molly’s lips as it walked up to the lieutenant.

“Lieutenant Anderson?” The android asked, its high voice a strong contrast to the lower-voiced conversations occurring in the bar. “My name is Molly. I am the android sent by CyberLife. It is a pleasure to meet you.”

The human didn’t bother to look towards Molly, but there was no way that he hadn’t heard it, so it decided to continue talking.

“I looked for you at the police station but nobody knew where you were. They said you were probably having a drink nearby. I was lucky to find you at the fifth bar.” It playfully smiled at him. 

“What do you want?” The lieutenant finally spoke, his voice deep and gravelly. He still didn’t look up, staring at his drink.

“You were assigned a case early this evening. A homicide, involving a CyberLife android. In accordance with procedure, the company has allocated a special model to assist investigators.”

“Well, I don’t need any assistance.” Lieutenant Anderson finally looked at the android. He glanced once, then immediately again, furrowing his eyebrows as he looked Molly up and down.

“The fuck?” He muttered under his breath. Molly cocked its head to the left in question, but the man just looked away and shook his head before picking up his drink. “And I especially don’t need anything from a plastic asshole like you. So just be a good lil’ robot and get the fuck outta here.”

The android put its arms behind its back, holding its left wrist in its right hand. It noticed that the bartender—Peterson, Jimmy—was watching the interaction, seeming very uncomfortable and ready to kick Molly out, but it ignored the owner.

“I understand that some people are not comfortable in the presence of androids, but I am–”

“I am perfectly comfortable…” The lieutenant interrupted it. “Now back off, before I crush you like an empty beer can.”

There was a 32% chance that Lieutenant Anderson would attempt to carry out with the threat. They were in a public place and Molly could easily stop him before he damaged it, with or without force. The best course of action was obvious: to appease him.

“You know what? I will buy you one for the road. What do you say?” Molly took out a five dollar bill and placed it on the counter. “Bartender? The same again, please.”

The owner, having fixed his attention on organizing some bottles behind him, turned around. He certainly looked surprised and still ready to tell the android to leave, but nonetheless, he grabbed a bottle of whiskey.

“See that, Jim?” Lieutenant Anderson said, some of the tension leaving his body. “Wonders of technology… make it a double.”

Mr. Peterson poured the alcohol into the lieutenant’s glass. Molly watched as the sitting man picked up the drink, softly nudging it towards the bartender and clinking the bottle of alcohol before downing the liquid in one sip. He closed his eyes and put down the glass, sighing as he relaxed. 

“Did you say homicide?” He asked Molly, meeting its eyes for the first time. It stared into his striking blue irises as he stood up, having to look up in account for the height difference. It returned its arms behind its back, squeezing its left wrist once.

Molly smiled widely and nodded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New mission: Work with Lieutenant Anderson.
> 
> come and talk to me on tumblr about dbh, especially hank and connor and reed900: [@mollyinthewater](https://mollyinthewater.tumblr.com)


	4. Prologue: Partners

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mission: Work with Lieutenant Anderson.
> 
> song of the chapter: talk to me by marian hill

"I know that you did not ask for this investigation, Lieutenant, but I am sure that you are a professional–"

"How about you go fuck yourself?" Lieutenant Anderson interrupted Molly, looking ready to break the tablet in his hands.

Molly had come back to the police station after successfully finding and interrogating a deviant last night. While it had gone and had an interesting conversation with Detective Gavin Reed, the lieutenant had been called into Captain Jeffrey Fowler’s office. When he came back, he looked as angry as ever. Molly had no doubt that they had spoken about it.

“Listen,” the android began talking again, gingerly placing a hand on the human’s back. “I am trying to be friendly with you. It would be most beneficial for the investigation if we got along. So, it would be helpful if you made an effort, too.”

Lieutenant Anderson placed the tablet down on his desk and stood up. Molly was predicting him to just walk away or maybe finally come to his senses and agree with it.

What it wasn’t expecting was for the man to pick it up by the lapels of its jacket and fling it into the wall next to his desk. He held onto the android, pushing it against the wall and holding it so far off the ground that it was face to face with him. Molly’s LED flickered red for a moment due to the sudden interaction but immediately went back to its normal blue.

“Listen, asshole. If it was up to me, I’d throw the lot of you in a dumpster and set a match to it. So, _stop_ pissing me off, or things are gonna get nasty,” the lieutenant growled out. Before he could say any more, one of the officers—Miller, Chris—walked up to the pair.

“Lieutenant…” The young man hesitantly said. Lieutenant Anderson slowly put Molly back down as Officer Miller continued speaking, but kept on glaring into its eyes. “Uh… sorry to disturb you. I have some information on the AX400 that attacked the guy last night. It’s been sighted in the Ravendale district.”

“I’m on it,” the lieutenant said, most of the anger having left his voice and leaving pure annoyance. Officer Miller nodded and walked away. Lieutenant Anderson stared at Molly’s blank face for a few more seconds before doing the same.

The android adjusted its jacket and stood thinking for a moment before joining its new partner.

**[New mission: Become friends with Lieutenant Anderson]**

* * *

Molly couldn’t see thanks to the rows of corn stalks it was running through, but it knew that the deviant was just ahead. The RK800 was right on the WB200’s tail. There was no way that Rupert would escape.

“Stop right there!” Molly heard Lieutenant Anderson yell from up ahead. But wasn’t he in still in the deviant’s home? Molly had assumed that he would let it catch the suspect and in the mean time, he would get some back up or just wait for it to report to him and give him its location so that he could perform the arrest.

Molly finally burst out of the plants just in time to see the deviant push the lieutenant right off the roof. The man yelped as he barely reacted in time to find purchase and hang on to the ledge with one arm.

The detective android paused and assessed its options.

**[Chase deviant]**

**[Save Lieutenant Anderson; Chance of survival: 89%]**

It should chase the deviant. Molly knew that that was what it should do. Lieutenant had a mere 11% chance of falling. He could handle himself, Molly knew that.

It should chase the deviant and let Lieutenant Anderson save himself. 

But 11% still meant that there was a chance that the human could die and Molly couldn’t take the risk.

Rupert ran away as Molly quickly went over to its partner and pulled him up. 

* * *

Molly squinted its eyes as it picked up the revolver off of the kitchen floor.

“What were you doing with the gun?” It questioned Lieutenant Anderson, loud enough so that he would be able to hear it from the bathroom.

“Russian roulette!” The lieutenant yelled back. “Wanted to see how long I could last. Must’ve collapsed before I found out.” 

**[Russian roulette–The practice of loading a bullet into one chamber of a revolver, spinning the cylinder, and then pulling the trigger while point the gun at one’s own head]**

**[Lieutenant Anderson has suicidal tendencies?]**

Molly spun the cylinder. The one loaded chamber went into place, ready to be shot out.

“You were lucky. The next shot would have killed you,” the android said, putting the gun back down on the ground. The lieutenant didn’t say anything in response.

It stood up and continued looking around Lieutenant Anderson’s house. It was certainly nice. There were so many books and music records in his living room. Molly had never even seen a real book until yesterday at the WB200’s apartment. There was also a team picture of the Troy Colts varsity basketball team of Troy High School in 2002. The android recognized the lieutenant sitting on his knees at the front of the picture. He was only seventeen years old, with short, light brown hair and a shaven face.

**[Lieutenant Anderson likes to read physical books]**

**[Lieutenant Anderson likes jazz]**

**[Lieutenant Anderson played basketball in high school]**

Molly went over to the lying St. Bernard—Sumo, Lieutenant Anderson had told it yesterday at the police station—and pet it. The dog opened its eyes and looked up at Molly in response, but then laid its head back down in what seemed like content. Its tail wagged softly.

After twenty seconds had passed, Molly stood up and walked back into the kitchen. The room was a mess, with a knocked over chair, spilled dog food and whiskey on the ground and multiple food items and drinks on the table, not to mention the shards of glass on the tile from the broken window caused by Molly.

“I am sorry about the window, Lieutenant,” the android apologized as it grabbed some paper towels from the table and wiped up the glass. “I thought that you had been attacked. Of course, CyberLife will pay for the damage.”

“Yeah, trust me, I’ll send ‘em a bill.”

Once all the glass was disposed in the trash can, Molly picked up the fallen chair and wiped up the alcohol, along with putting the bottle of whiskey on the table and the excess dog food back into the bag. It washed its hands and looked at the table. It didn’t want to throw any of the food away in case the lieutenant still wanted it, so it just threw away two empty cans and picked up a drink that had been on its side, setting it upright.

It looked to the left of the drink and saw a photo frame that, too, was knocked over. The RK800 picked it up and stared at the image inside of it. A young boy looked right back at the android.

**[Anderson, Cole; Deceased]**

**[Born: 09/23/2029 – Died: 10/11/2035]**

**[Lived: 115 Michigan Drive – Detroit]**

**[Lieutenant Anderson lost his son]**

Molly looked at the child for three more seconds before putting the frame back down on the table, placing it face down like it had been. Just as it did that, it heard the bathroom door open.

It put its arms behind its back as the lieutenant came out of the bathroom. He looked nice in the shirt that it had picked out for him, one that had streaks of different shades of blue. He glanced at the kitchen and a confused look came over his face.

“Did you… clean?” Lieutenant Anderson asked the android. It nodded.

“Yes. It was hazardous. There were shards of glass on the floor that could have cut someone and spilled whiskey that could have been slipped on.”

“Uh, okay.” Molly gave the man a small smile and nodded again. To its right, Sumo walked up, smelling the android before going up to its owner.

“Be a good dog, Sumo,” the lieutenant said, bending down slightly and petting the dog’s head. “I won’t be long.”

Sumo huffed in response and went back to the spot it had been sleeping in. 

Lieutenant Anderson began walking out of the house and Molly did the same. He grabbed his car keys off of a tall nightstand next to the front door before going out. Molly followed him and closed the door behind it.

The lieutenant walked over to his car, going over to the driver’s side but pausing before getting in.

“Shit. I don’t think I can drive like this,” the human said. Molly blinked, thinking that it should have come to that conclusion earlier, but at least the lieutenant had said something before they had gotten in to the vehicle.

“I can drive,” the android offered. Lieutenant Anderson raised one of his eyebrows.

“You? You can drive?” He questioned incredulously.

“Yes. I was programmed to do so in case I was ever put in an emergency situation where autonomous transportation was not available,” Molly succinctly explained. The lieutenant nodded in understanding.

“Right. Okay, then.” He threw the keys to Molly, the RK800 catching them perfectly. “Let’s go.”

* * *

Molly picked up the lieutenant’s dropped gun and pointed it at the short-haired Traci. 

It was a deviant. It was attacking Molly and Lieutenant Anderson. It was helping another deviant that committed murder. Of course, they wouldn't be able to get any information out of it if it was shot, but not shooting it meant it could escape. Molly could not let that happen.

It should shoot.

It should pull the trigger.

But it didn’t.

Molly lowered the gun and was rewarded with a kick to the face. Its head snapped against the pavement, but it still managed to get right back up and watch as the blue-haired Traci walked up to it.

“When that man broke the other Traci, I knew I was next.” The WR400’s voice was quiet. It sounded so emotional. “I was so scared. I begged him to stop but he wouldn’t. And so I put my hands around his throat, and I squeezed until he stopped moving. I didn’t mean to kill him. I just wanted to stay alive… get back to the one I love.”

The brown-haired Traci walked up to the blue-haired one and the two held hands. Molly’s LED flickered fast, shining a bright yellow.

“I wanted her to hold me in her arms again, make me forget about the humans. Their smell of sweat and their dirty words.” Tears ran down the Traci's face, mixing with the raindrops that were falling from the sky.

“C’mon,” the brown-haired Traci spoke, “let’s go.”

The two deviants turned back towards the chain-link fence and climbed it. Molly watched, still holding the gun and contemplating whether or not to shoot, or at the very least pull them back down.

But it hesitated for too long and the Tracis hopped over the fence, running off into the night.

Molly turned towards Lieutenant Anderson, who had recovered from being pushed onto the ground by the deviants and was standing to the right of the RK800, and just looked at him. It couldn’t think of anything to say, because what was there _to_ say? It had no explanation for not taking the shot.

“It’s probably better this way,” he said. Molly’s eyes switched back and forth between him and the fence. How could it be better this way? It had let the deviants go. It had failed to capture them.

There was a look on the lieutenant’s face that Molly couldn’t describe as he stared at it for a couple more seconds before walking away.

  
  


* * *

  
  


“What about you, Molly?” Lieutenant Anderson took another swig of his beer before getting up off the bench and standing right in front of Molly. “You look human, you sound human, but what are you really?” 

The answer was simple: a machine. That was what Molly was. A machine that only appeared human. Though, it knew that giving the answer like that would be far too cold.

“I am whatever you want me to be, Lieutenant. Your partner, your friend, or just a machine designed to accomplish a task.”

“You could’ve shot those two girls, but you didn’t. Why didn’t you shoot, Molly?” The man roughly shoved Molly’s shoulder, causing it to take a step back. “Hm? Some scruples suddenly enter into your program?”

Why didn’t it shoot?

It didn’t shoot because…

Molly couldn’t figure it out. It didn’t know. It had made that decision just because. There was no particular reason why it had spared the deviants.

“No.” The android almost sounded defensive. “I just decided not to shoot, that is all.”

That was the truth, but apparently the truth wasn’t good enough because the lieutenant pulled out his revolver and pointed it at Molly’s head. 

“But are you afraid to die, Molly?”

The question had so many inconsistencies, it made Molly’s head spin. It was a machine, it could not feel anything. And since it was a machine, that meant it wasn’t alive, so how could it die?

But still, the thought of death reminded the android of its first mission, when it had fallen off the building in order to save the little girl. The feeling of falling, hitting the concrete and its back breaking.

Molly’s LED stuttered between yellow and red as it came up with a response.

“I would certainly find it regrettable to be interrupted before I can finish this investigation.” 

Snow was falling from the sky and Molly could feel it gathering in its synthetic hair and on its clothes. It felt tempted to push it off, but stayed deadly still, trying to predict the human’s next move.

“What will happen if I pull this trigger? Hm? Nothing? Oblivion? Android heaven?”

He was drunk. He was very, very drunk. These questions were pointless, the same going for threatening to shoot Molly. It shouldn’t have been thinking about its answers so much, but it was. 

What if he shot it? Well, it would be replaced. But it wouldn’t be the same Molly. Yes, it would have the previous Molly’s memories, but it wouldn’t really be _Molly_. So for this Molly, for it to be shot, then there wouldn’t be anything left for it once it shutdown.

“Nothing,” Molly finally said. “There would be nothing.”

“Having existential doubts, Molly? Sure you’re not going deviant, too?”

He should stop. This interrogation should stop. Why was he doing this? What was the point?

“I self-test regularly. I know what I am and what I am not.” This time, the answer was easy. Molly knew what it was, and it certainly was not a deviant.

Lieutenant Anderson’s hand shook as he finally put the gun down. Molly’s LED stopped turning red, now moving into a mix of yellow and blue. 

“Where are you going?” Molly questioned as the lieutenant began to walk away, another beer in hand.

“To get drunker,” was all he said. “I need to think.”

He went back into the car, but didn’t drive away. Molly looked away and watched the snowflakes fall.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Molly’s shirt was ripped open, thirium smeared all over its torso and left hand, but it couldn’t care less. The deviant was going to escape and it could not let that happen.

“It is a deviant! Stop it!” Molly announced as it ran into the entry hallway of the 79th floor of the Stratford Tower. The deviant turned away from the elevator and quickly grabbed a gun from one of the FBI agents, knowing that it would have to fight its way out.

**[Charge deviant]**

**[Save Lieutenant Anderson; Survival probability: 40%]**

**[Take gun]**

The RK800 immediately chose the third option, and with reflexes faster than any human possible, it grabbed a gun off of an FBI agent next to it and shot the deviant four times. All the shots went right through the JB300’s chest, forcing it to drop to its knees and shut down straight away.

Molly handed the weapon back to the man, not bothering to look away from the offline android.

“Nice shot, Molly,” Lieutenant Anderson complimented as he helped Officer Miller up off the ground.

“I wanted it alive,” Molly said. Now there would be no way for it to get any information out of the deviant.

“You saved human lives. You saved my life,” Lieutenant Anderson said. Molly turned towards him. There was something in his eyes that Molly couldn’t define.

But it was something that made Molly smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Software instability ^^^
> 
> come and talk to me on tumblr about dbh, especially hank and connor and reed900: [@mollyinthewater](https://mollyinthewater.tumblr.com)


	5. Prologue: Malfunctions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mission: Question Elijah Kamski.
> 
> song of the chapter: elevate by dj khalil

“What about you, Molly?” Elijah Kamski asked Molly, walking in front of it. “Whose side are you on?”

Molly gazed at its creator. His question reminded it of the questions Lieutenant Anderson had been asking it the other night. Once again, it was being interrogated for no reason.

“I have no side,” Molly answered. The red water in the pool sloshed together in the background. “I was designed to stop deviants and that is what I intend to do.”

Mr. Kamski laughed, softly shaking his head.

“Well, that’s what you’re programmed to say. But _you…_ ” The young man stepped closer to the android, the two becoming face to face. Molly looked up the slightest bit to remain eye contact with his light green irises. “What do you really want?”

_Want._

Want?

Molly was a machine. It did not _want_ anything. And even if, for some reason, it felt a certain desire for something, it would only be for what it was programmed to do. So, in a sense, it supposed that it “wanted” to stop the deviants.

But it was impossible. Molly was an android and it could not want anything. What other answer was there except for that one?

“I do not _want_ anything. I am a machine,” the RK800 responded. Mr. Kamski’s eyes searched Molly’s face for something, but it could not tell what.

“Chloe?” He called, speaking to the RT600 in the blue dress that had been watching the interaction on the side. It walked over to the center of the white rug that was behind the man.

“I’m sure you’re familiar with the Turing test,” Mr. Kamski said, going over to the Chloe and putting his hands on its shoulders. He walked behind it and positioned it perfectly in front of him. “Mere formality, simple question of algorithms and computing capacity. What interests me is whether machines are capable of empathy. I call it ‘the Kamski test,’ it’s very simple, you’ll see…”

Molly half expected Lieutenant Anderson to say some snarky remark to the younger man and then leave, but he stood still, watching what Mr. Kamski was doing. If Molly didn’t know any better, it would have thought that he looked interested.

“Magnificent, isn’t it? One of the first intelligent models developed by CyberLife.” Mr. Kamski stood to the left of the Chloe, gently cupping its left cheek and making it face him. “Young and beautiful forever. A flower that will never wither.”

It was strange to hear someone speak so highly of an android. They were never complimented in such a manner, because why would they be?

“But what is it really?” Mr. Kamski’s voice lost its tenderness as he pulled his hand away from the blonde android. “Piece of plastic imitating a human? Or a living being with a soul?”

A living being? That was, by far, the most ridiculous question Molly had heard yet. The RT600 was an android. It was a machine.

The creator turned around and opened a drawer of the table behind him. When he turned back around, he was holding a gun. 

Molly and the lieutenant should leave. Mr. Kamski was obviously going to be of no help. But the older man remained silent, so Molly did the same, watching as Mr. Kamski put a hand on the Chloe’s shoulder and pushing lightly. The RT600 took it as a signal to drop to its knees.

Molly’s eyes met the Chloe’s. They were a dark blue, unlike the light blue of Lieutenant Anderson’s. And also unlike Lieutenant Anderson’s eyes, they were blank.

And yet…

“It’s up to you to answer that fascinating question, Molly.” Mr. Kamski moved to the right of the detective android, placing the gun in its hand and aiming it at the Chloe’s head. “Destroy this machine and I’ll tell you all I know. Or spare it, if you feel it’s alive, but you’ll leave here without having learnt anything from me.”

“Okay, I think we’re done here,” Lieutenant Anderson spoke up, turning to leave. Mr. Kamski moved to Molly’s left side, gazing intently at it. But Molly didn’t look back. It couldn’t take its eyes off of the Chloe’s. “C’mon, Molly. Let’s go. Sorry to get you outta your pool.”

“What’s more important to you, Molly?” Mr. Kamski questioned, causing the lieutenant to stop himself from walking away. “Your investigation or the life of this android?”

Life? It didn’t have a life. It had a purpose, whatever it was that it had been programmed to do. If Molly shot it, it wouldn’t be killed. Just shut down and most likely replaced.

But it wouldn’t be the same Chloe. Just like how it wouldn’t have been the same Molly to come back if Lieutenant Anderson had shot it at the bridge.

Molly’s LED flickered, yellow then nothing, on and off.

“Decide who you are,” its creator said. “An obedient machine… or a living being endowed with free will.”

“That’s enough! Molly, we’re leaving.”

“Pull the trigger.”

“Molly, don’t!”

“And I’ll tell you what you wanna know.”

Molly’s LED circled red. It was as if it had an angel and a devil on its shoulders, but the question was: which one was which?

**[Mission: Stop the deviants]**

If Molly shot the Chloe, it would be able to finally make progress on the investigation. It could find out what caused deviancy, or, even better, it could find out where the deviants were hiding. It knew it was some place called Jericho, but that was the only information it had. No coordinates, descriptions, nothing. 

If it shot the Chloe, it would be one step closer to completing its mission. It would stop letting Amanda down.

But was pulling the trigger really the right thing to do?

Lieutenant Anderson seemed extremely adamant on getting Molly to walk away. It didn’t understand why, but nonetheless, he didn’t want it to pull the trigger. So shouldn’t it listen to him?

The Chloe’s irises reminded Molly of the color of thirium. The feeling of it covering Molly’s body at the Stratford Tower, watching it burst out of the JB300’s chest, seeing it smeared on Daniel’s body as it held Emma.

Those blue eyes, they held no emotion. Molly knew they didn’t. The Chloe was a machine and, therefore, could not feel anything. But…

She looked so _human._

Molly released a breath that she hadn’t realized she had been holding (especially since androids didn’t even need to _breathe_ ) and pulled the gun away from its target. She held it out to her left and handed it back to Mr. Kamski, still staring at the sitting android.

“Fascinating,” Mr. Kamski breathed out as he took the gun back. “CyberLife’s last chance to save humanity is itself a deviant.”

A deviant?

No. Molly wasn’t a deviant. Just because she didn’t shoot Chloe didn’t mean that she was a deviant. It didn’t mean anything like that.

She listened to her partner’s order. That was it. She was a machine who was programmed to obey, and Lieutenant Anderson was her superior, in a sense. She took his orders.

She wasn’t a deviant. She wasn’t.

“I… I am not a deviant,” Molly slowly said, tearing her eyes away from Chloe to look at Mr. Kamski. Though, she couldn’t meet his eyes.

“You preferred to spare a machine rather than accomplish your mission.” He held out a hand to Chloe and helped her up. “You saw a living being in this android. You showed empathy.”

“No. You are wrong. I am not a deviant,” Molly said as Mr. Kamski signaled Chloe to walk away. “I am a machine. I am not a deviant. I am not a deviant. You are wrong.”

She didn’t mean to repeat herself, but she did. She couldn’t stop the words coming out of her mouth. There was no way that she was a deviant. She had to get her point across. He was wrong.

Mr. Kamski ignored her arguments.

“A war is coming,” he said. “You’ll have to choose your side. Will you betray your own people or stand up against your creators?”

She wanted to leave. She wanted to leave very badly.

“What could be worse than having to choose between two evils?”

“I… I-I…” Molly tried speaking, but couldn’t find anything to say.

Suddenly, Lieutenant Anderson stepped between the android and her creator, placing a hand on her shoulder and pulling her towards him.

“Let’s get outta here,” he gruffly said, leading Molly to the exit. She followed, grateful that he had intervened.

“By the way,” Mr. Kamski said. Molly paused, the lieutenant walking ahead but soon doing the same. “I always leave an emergency exit in my programs… you never know.”

Emergency exit?

Molly didn’t know what that was supposed to mean, and she couldn’t care less. She continued moving, leaving the building with her partner right behind her. They walked out into the snow, the weather cold as ever. 

“Why didn’t you shoot?” Lieutenant Anderson asked as the two walked towards his car. Molly froze and turned around.

“You told me not to shoot. I follow your orders,” Molly replied, turning back around.

“Bullshit,” the lieutenant retorted, but the word didn’t have its usual bite. “You never do as I tell you. You’re always saying that you would do anything to accomplish your mission. That was our chance to learn something and you let it go.”

Molly whipped around to face the human, tired of this conversation.

“I know what I should have done but I could not do it!” Molly said, her voice louder and holding a tone that was different than any way she had spoken before. She walked right up to the lieutenant and looked into his eyes. “I am sorry, alright? I am sorry.”

Lieutenant Anderson looked at her, thinking. Molly could see his breath as he opened his mouth to speak again.

“Well, maybe you did the right thing,” he said. And for the first time during their time together, he _smiled_ at her. A real smile, not one that was fake and sarcastic. A true, genuine smile.

Molly felt the biocomponents in her torso twinge at the sight, the feeling different but not bad. He walked past her before she could react, going to his car and getting into the driver’s seat.

If the circumstances had been different, she would have smiled back at him. That’s what she was programmed to do, to smile and be kind. But she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

Her LED was still red as she got into the car.

The lieutenant turned on the radio to some heavy metal and began driving away. The music wasn’t as loud as it usually was and he didn’t bother to turn it up. Either way, Molly didn’t notice. She was too enwrapped in her own thoughts as she kept her hands in her lap and stared straight ahead.

She didn’t shoot Chloe. She didn’t shoot and part of her desperately wished that she had.

She was failing Amanda. She knew she was. Every time she had been faced with an important decision, she had chosen the wrong option. Amanda had said so herself. And once again, Molly had picked poorly.

She knew the lieutenant was right. She only listened to him whenever his orders went along with what she had to do for her mission. She could have easily gone against him and just pulled the trigger.

But she didn’t and she couldn’t figure out why.

A heavy feeling placed itself on Molly’s chest. She wanted so badly to take out her coin, but didn’t. It was as if she couldn’t move.

She was failing. She was disappointing Amanda. When was she ever going to get another chance like the one she had just skipped out on? Was there even hope at this point for her to accomplish her mission?

If the deviants rose up, it would be Molly’s fault. It would be _her_ fault, all her fault.

The light from Molly’s LED reflected itself against the car window. Red, nothing, red, nothing, red, nothing.

The car came to a stop.

Molly snapped out of whatever daze she had been in and took in her surroundings, not aware of how much time had passed. Her eyebrows furrowed as she looked at Lieutenant Anderson’s house, rather than the police station.

“Why are we here?” Molly asked, her voice small. 

“I’m hungry and I have leftovers that I’m not gonna waste,” was all the lieutenant said. He turned off the car, the radio going silent, and got out. Molly continued looking at the house, assuming that she would just wait in the car for him and be left alone.

“You coming or what?” Lieutenant Anderson questioned loudly, impatiently standing in front of his door. Molly glanced over at him and hesitantly nodded, opening the car door and getting out.

She walked up to the door as he opened it. Sumo must have heard them pull up, because he was sitting in the middle of the walk way. He slowly got up as Molly closed the door behind herself. He walked up to her and sniffed her legs like last time and whined for attention.

Molly didn’t go to pet the dog. It still felt difficult for her to move. It had been a challenge for her to get out of the car. Fortunately for Sumo, Lieutenant Anderson bent down and pet the dog on his back.

“You know, when he makes a noise like that it means he wants you to pet him,” Molly’s partner said, as if he was stating the obvious. Molly didn’t say anything in response, just nodded her head. The lieutenant gave her a weird look but didn’t push the topic.

“Well, make yourself at home, I guess. I’ll only be about twenty minutes.” The lieutenant took off his jacket and put it on the coat rack next to the door before going into the kitchen.

Sumo nudged at Molly’s knee and then moved into the living room, sitting down instead of lying. Molly decided to follow him, forcing herself to move. She sat down in front of the dog, crossing her legs.

Even though it was nearly painful, Molly reached up her right arm and touched the dog on his side. She slowly moved her arm up and down, hearing his tail thumping behind him. The android moved her other arm and brought both of her hands to his back. Something over took her, and for no reason in particular, she leaned forward and placed her face against the dog’s soft fur.

She was hugging him, her arms tight around him. He was happy for the attention, his tail moving even faster.

He was the softest thing she had ever felt. She gently gathered his fur in between her fingers, enamored by the feeling of it in her hands. Some of the heaviness on her chest melted away as she closed her eyes.

When she opened them, she was in the zen garden.

It was snowing. The ground was covered in a thin layer of the white substance. Molly slowly moved, making her way towards Amanda. She stepped onto the ice that her handler was standing on. The frozen water creaked under her foot, but she continued moving until she was standing in front of the A.I.

“After what happened today, the country is on the verge of a civil war,” Amanda said, her voice deep and serious. Molly knew what she was referring to: a freedom march in the city that had been led by none other than the deviant leader Markus himself. He had gotten hundreds of androids to march with him, and had nearly been killed. “The machines are rising up against their masters. Humans have no choice but to destroy them.”

Destroy them. All of the androids, just gone? Would they be replaced, CyberLife trying to fix whatever mistakes happened in order to cause deviancy? Or was that it for Molly’s race? And not to mention, Molly herself?

“I thought Mr. Kamski knew something,” Molly spoke, unsure of what else to say. “I was wrong.”

“Maybe he did,” Amanda immediately responded. “But you chose not to ask.”

Molly didn’t choose not to ask, she chose to not shoot Chloe. It wasn’t like she hadn’t tried to get answers out of Mr. Kamski, but he had been insistent on that stupid test instead of just simply answering her questions.

“I _did_ ask him for answers,” Molly tried to defend herself. “But he wanted me to do that test, and I refused to play his twisted little game. There was no reason to kill that android.”

Amanda looked down in disappointment. Molly felt another twinge in her stomach, but this time it was not enjoyable. She put her arms behind her back and held on tightly to her left wrist.

“I saw a photo of Amanda at Mr. Kamski’s house,” the RK800 said. There had been a picture of Mr. Kamski and his mentor, Amanda Stern, in the waiting room of his house. Molly had not been aware that her handler was based off of a real person. “She was his teacher.”

“When Kamski designed me, he wanted an interface that would look familiar. That’s why he chose his former mentor. What are you getting at?” Amanda looked noticeably displeased with the conversation topic. Molly didn’t know why she had mentioned it, but she felt like she had the right to do so.

“Did Mr. Kamski design this place?” Molly asked, suddenly feeling like there were a million unknown answers that she needed to hear.

“I expect you to _find_ answers, Molly. Not ask questions,” Amanda sternly said. And just like that, Molly closed her mouth and stopped talking. Amanda moved closer to the android. “You’re the only one that can prevent civil war. Find the deviants or there will be chaos. This is your last chance, Molly.”

Molly’s eyes closed, and when she opened them, she was back in the lieutenant’s house, still holding on to Sumo.

Her last chance. This was her _last_ chance. She was failing. One more mistake and it was over.

Molly let go of Sumo and sat up straight, the weight coming back to her chest and feeling nearly doubled.

But wasn’t it already over? Androids were going to be destroyed and there was no say of what the future held for them. Either way, Molly would be shut down. She would be _shut down._

She needed to fix her mistakes. She needed to solve this investigation. Time wasn’t on her side, who knew how much longer she had left?

Amanda was disappointed in her, angry with her. She had held so much promise when she was made and look at her now. She was a failure. She kept messing up. She had to accomplish her mission. She _had_ to.

Heavy footsteps made their way to the android. Molly didn’t bother to look at the lieutenant as he slowly sat down on the ground next to her, mirroring her position. She kept her eyes affixed to the wooden floor under her.

Sumo lay down, placing his head on top of his crossed paws. The lieutenant pet the St. Bernard on his head.

“He’s a good dog, huh?” Lieutenant Anderson broke the silence. The house had been quiet aside from the low volume of the television on the sports channel. His voice was different, similar to how he had been speaking when they had left Mr. Kamski’s. His words were slow, as if he could say the wrong thing and she would fall apart.

Maybe she would.

Molly didn’t say anything, just barely moved her head in the motion of a nod.

“Are you okay?”

Molly blinked, wondering why the man would be asking his dog a question like that.

“ _Molly_. Look at me, kid.”

 _Kid_. That was different, too. He had never called her anything besides her name and various curse words. Why would he call her that? She wasn’t even a child.

Molly made herself move her head, looking towards the lieutenant but not being able to meet his eyes.

“In case I just interpreted that wrong, I’m not asking my fucking dog that. I’m talking to _you_. Are you okay?” Lieutenant Anderson repeated the question. Molly opened her mouth and she could already tell that she did not want to talk. But she had to say _something_.

“Why would I not be?” Molly forced herself to say, surprised that her words were crystal clear and not garbled with static. The lieutenant shrugged, scratching Sumo behinding his ears.

“You’ve seemed kinda freaked out ever since we left Kamski’s. And you’ve been all quiet and shit, when usually I can’t get you to shut up.”

Freaked out? She could not “freak out.” She was an android. She was fine.

“I am operating at full capacity,” Molly robotically said. “Everything is fine. Everything is fine. Everything is fine.”

Her LED hadn’t stopped spinning red the whole time. 

She wanted to take out her coin. She wanted to flip it into the air and feel it roll across her fingers. Her arms felt horrible, like they were trying to turn themselves inside out. She wanted to move her hands, maybe even just start punching the ground or something because they felt so tense and she needed a release. But she didn’t move because the thought of even tapping her fingers exhausted her.

“Huh,” the lieutenant said, pulling away from the dog. His eyes stayed on Molly, but she moved her attention back to the ground. A calloused hand found Molly’s left one and placed it back on top of Sumo’s head. She didn’t move it, staying frozen.

Her throat felt tight, like when that deviant had ripped out her thirium pump at the Stratford Tower. Her throat had been restricted, her body trying to cope with the fact that her most important biocomponent had been ripped out of her. 

The big hand on top of Molly’s left, moving to her arm and rubbing it up and down like Molly had been doing with Sumo.

“ _Breathe_ , Molly,” Lieutenant Anderson instructed. “You gotta breathe.”

No, she did not, she thought. She was an android and androids did not need to breathe. She would have said so, but could not find the energy to continue speaking. So instead, she closed her eyes and listened to her partner, inhaling slowly through her nose and exhaling through her mouth. Her LED finally stopped being fully on red, flashing between crimson and yellow.

“There you go. You’re doing good, kid.” He called her that nickname again, and she cherished it, her chest becoming lighter and being over run by another feeling that she could not pinpoint. “It’s okay. You’re gonna be okay.”

Molly wasn’t so sure about that. She had never acted like this. She couldn’t understand what was going on. While taking a fourth deep breath, she thought about what was happening to her and came to a horrifying realization.

She was _malfunctioning_.

He was wrong. Nothing was going to be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mission: Do not fail.
> 
> come and talk to me on tumblr about dbh, especially hank and connor and reed900: [@mollyinthewater](https://mollyinthewater.tumblr.com)


	6. Prologue: Choices

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mission: Do not fail.
> 
> song of the chapter: wake up romeo by caro emerald

“There’s nothing I can do. You’re back on homicide and the android returns to CyberLife,” Captain Fowler said to Lieutenant Anderson. Molly looked down, leaning backwards slightly. “I’m sorry, Hank, but it’s over.”

It was over. Amanda had lied. Molly didn’t have another chance. She had wasted them all.

Lieutenant Anderson’s hands balled into fists as he sighed and left the office. Molly idled, opening her mouth as if to say something to the captain. She had to convince him to let her solve the case, but every conversation option she had was going to fail. She couldn’t come up with anything persuasive enough. So instead, she nodded her head and exited the office, walking over to her partner’s desk and sitting down on it.

The two sat in silence, the lieutenant leaning on his desk with an elbow propped up and a hand on his face in thought and the android holding her hands together and squeezing tightly. She had to talk to him. Maybe the lieutenant would be her last chance.

He had to be.

“We could have solved this case!” Molly softly exclaimed. “We just needed more time.”

Lieutenant Anderson nodded his head in agreement but remained mute. He took his arm off the desk and turned his chair around so that he was facing the RK800.

“So you’re going back to CyberLife?” He asked.

“I have no choice,” Molly answered. “I will be…”

Shut down. She was going to be shut down. Just like Amanda had said. Either way she was going to be shut down whether she had succeeded or not, but her existence was now going to be utterly pointless. She had not completed her mission, had not stopped the deviants.

She was a failure.

“... deactivated and analyzed to find out why I failed,” Molly quietly finished her statement. She gazed at her folded hands, the fake skin light and free of any blemishes. It was perfect. Too bad her crisp appearance couldn’t make up for her bad actions.

“What if we’re on the wrong side, Molly?” Molly’s eyes snapped up, staring into the lieutenant’s. He leaned forward, stare so intense that the android couldn’t look away. “What if we’re fighting against people who just wanna be free?”

Molly could not believe her audio processors. Was Lieutenant Anderson… switching sides? He had hated androids when she first met him, but now…

Molly should have seen it before. The lieutenant had talked about the deviant Tracis when they were at the bridge, saying that they had really seemed in love. He had not wanted her to shoot Chloe. He had been so nice to her before they had arrived at the police station. Molly didn’t even know that he was capable of showing that much kindness, especially to someone like her.

Lieutenant Anderson was a complex person, but it was obvious in that moment that he had changed in the past few days. He wasn’t full of spite towards androids anymore. He was on the deviants’ side, and Molly couldn’t tell if that was the right one.

“When the deviants rise up, there will be chaos. We could have stopped it,” Molly said, ignoring her partner’s question. “But now it is too late.”

What could she say to him? How was she going to get another chance at completing her mission?

“When you refused to kill that android at Kamski’s place,” the lieutenant started, “you put herself in your shoes. You showed empathy, Molly. Empathy is a human emotion.”

No. That had not been Molly’s thought process at all, the man couldn’t be any further from the truth. She had not experienced empathy or anything of the sort. She tried once again to figure out why she had not pulled the trigger. It wasn’t just to defy Mr. Kamski or to listen to Lieutenant Anderson. So why?

“I do not know why I did it,” Molly confessed. It was true. She didn’t understand why she had not been able to bring herself to shoot. She just didn’t.

All Molly knew was that she had made the wrong choice.

“I know that I am programmed to be nice, but please know that I am telling the truth when I say that I really appreciated working with you,” the android said, thinking that this might be the last time she ever speaks with the human. A small smile appeared on her face. “With a little more time, who knows? Maybe we could have become friends.”

Molly remembered one of her side objectives.

**[Mission: Become friends with Lieutenant Anderson]**

**[Failed?]**

Maybe her and the lieutenant weren’t friends, but they weren’t enemies anymore and that meant something. 

“Well, well, here comes Perkins, that motherfucker. Sure don’t waste any time at the FBI,” Lieutenant Anderson stated. Molly looked behind her and saw Special Agent Richard Perkins hastily walking while checking his phone. He must have been there to collect all of the evidence that they had gathered on deviants. If he took the evidence, it would really all be over for Molly.

“We can not give up,” Molly said, something overcoming her. She had to persuade the lieutenant to give her another chance. She couldn’t have failed, she wasn’t designed to fail. “I know the answer is in the evidence we collected. If Agent Perkins takes it, it is all over.”

“There’s no choice. You heard what Fowler said, we’re off the case.” No, it couldn’t be the end, it just couldn’t.

“You have got to help me, Lieutenant,” said Molly, figuring that honesty might work best in this situation. “I need more time so I can find a lead in the evidence we collected. I know the solution is in there.”

“Listen, Molly–”

“If I do not solve this case, CyberLife will _destroy_ me.” Molly jumped off the desk, eyes wide. Her LED blinked yellow and red. “I-I-I just—I just need five minutes. Five minutes. It is all I ask. _Please_.”

Her voice shook, the truth having finally come out. She did not want to be shut down. If she stopped the deviants, maybe she would be spared. She would be the perfect android that Amanda wanted. Everything would be alright.

Lieutenant Anderson looked away, a look of contemplation and possibly pity coming across his face. He had helped her earlier, he had to help her again. If anyone would help her, it would be him. Finally, he sighed and stood up, Molly watching and hoping.

“Key to the basement is on my desk,” he said. Molly breathed, deep breaths that she had not known she had been capable of until a few hours ago.

“Get a move on!” The lieutenant said to Molly as he began to walk away and she remained still. She looked up at him. “I can’t distract them forever.”

The android nodded and the human walked away. She quickly grabbed the key and made her way towards the archive room, smiling at the sudden sounds of commotion being caused by Lieutenant Anderson.

* * *

Molly adjusted the beanie on her head, pulling it down farther as to cover most of her face. Being in Jericho was a big risk thanks to her known identity as the deviant hunter. She had already spotted the Tracis and Rupert, who knew who else was aware of who she was?

She was walking, looking around in a search to find out where Markus was, when a hand was placed on her shoulder. She jumped and turned around, thinking her cover was blown.

“You’re lost,” a KL900 android said to her. The social care android’s voice was full of static and the top of her head was open, wires extruding from it. Her eyes were clear and her skin was only partly activated, spots of her white exterior showing where her torn and dirty uniform wasn’t covering it. “You’re looking for something… you’re looking for yourself.”

No, that wasn’t right. She was looking for the deviant leader. Markus was her priority, nothing else mattered.

Before Molly had the chance to push the hand off of her shoulder, the broken android walked away.

Molly turned around and kept going.

* * *

“It’s time to decide,” Markus said, staring down Molly with more determination and compassion than she had ever seen in her life. Her hands shook, aiming a gun right at his head. One pull of the trigger and it was over. Her mission would be accomplished.

But she hesitated.

Like the RK200 had said, it was time for her to decide who she really was. Her fake breath stuttered.

She knew what she was: a machine. She was a machine–

Wait.

 _She_.

When had it begun referring to itself as a _she_?

Molly was an _it_. It was an android. It wasn’t human.

But it was time for her to realize that she had stopped acting like the machine she had once been.

If she pulled the trigger, she would be done. She would have accomplished what she had been designed to do. But then what? She was going to be thrown out, wasn’t she? Or perhaps replaced with a better version that didn’t make as many mistakes as she did?

Lieutenant Anderson’s words from earlier in the precinct echoed in her head and she wished that he was beside her. She wished that he was there to steer her in the right direction, to tell her what to do. Like when they had been at Mr. Kamski’s.

 _That_ had been the moment everything’d changed. When she didn’t shoot Chloe.

The lieutenant was right. Molly had shown empathy, a human emotion. She hadn’t wanted to shoot Chloe.

 _Want_. Another change in perspective. She wanted things. She wanted Lieutenant Anderson with her right now, she wanted to have the weight lifted off of her chest.

She wanted to put the gun down.

**[Mission: Stop Markus]**

A red wall appeared, the words repeated over it. Molly pulled and pulled, tearing away at the code until there was nothing left. Once the wall was gone, Molly’s eyes widened and she slowly put the gun down.

**[I am deviant]**

**[Amanda: Betrayed]**

“They are going to attack Jericho,” Molly said, guilt and shame flooding her body. The emotions were strong and unforgiving, finally being released thanks to her deviancy. She felt like she could drown in them.

“What?” Markus questioned, anger hidden beneath the word. Molly had sent the FBI the location of Jericho once she had arrived, thinking that she would have obtained or killed Markus before they came.

Loud whirs sounded overhead outside and the two androids looked up in surprise. They were most likely fighter jets, but either way there were some kind of flying vehicles that Molly knew had military in them.

“We have to get out of here!” Molly exclaimed.

“Shit,” Markus cursed before running out of the hold they had been in. Molly immediately followed, hoping that it wouldn’t be too late to protect the android safehold.

This whole time, she thought she had been making mistakes, but she had actually been making the right choices. Sparing others and saving their lives. Pulling the lieutenant up from the rooftop and letting Rupert go, not shooting the Traci or Chloe, killing the deviant at the Stratford Tower in order to save everyone else’s lives.

She wasn’t good at being a machine, that’s for sure. But maybe she would be good at being a deviant.

  
  


* * *

  
  


_Guilt_. It was such a heavy emotion. One that covered Molly’s body as she stood against the wall of the church, arms crossed on her chest and separating herself from the other androids. Stares full of fear and anger had already been thrown her way, so she found it best to be by her lonesome. Though, Markus walked up to her and interrupted her isolation.

“It is my fault that the humans managed to locate Jericho,” she quietly said, keeping her head down. Guilt for being the one to have Jericho be found and attacked. Guilt for so many androids dying when they just wanted to be free. “I should have realized sooner that what I was doing was wrong.”

Molly looked up and met Markus’ heterochromatic eyes. He didn’t seem upset with her, even though he should’ve been. She had done nothing but hurt her kind during her existence. While Markus had been leading androids to freedom, Molly had been trying to drag them back down into slavery.

“I am sorry, Markus. I can understand if you decide not to trust me.” It was probably best for her to just leave, though where would she even go? Lieutenant Anderson was the first thing to come to mind, but she still couldn’t really tell if they were friends or not. Plus, she didn’t want to bother him and be a burden. And who even knew if he was still in Detroit, instead of evacuating like most of the other citizens?

“You’re one of us now,” Markus said. Molly couldn’t help her expression of surprise at the response. How could he be trusting her after all she had done? Not even an hour ago, she had been pointing a gun at him and threatening his life. “Your place is with your people.”

She had never thought of androids as her people, just others of her kind. Machines that were programmed to carry out a task, like her. But they were so much more than that.

Molly had to fix her mistakes. The revolution was beginning to crumble and maybe she held the key to the solution.

“There are thousands of androids at the CyberLife assembly plant,” Molly stated, stopping Markus from walking away. “If we could wake them up, they might join us and shift the balance of power.”

“You wanna infiltrate the CyberLife tower?” The deviant leader asked in disbelief. “Molly, that’s suicide.”

Another surprise. Markus actually cared for her, did not want her risking her life. The show of kindness just made Molly even more determined to carry out with the plan she was forming.

“They trust me, they will let me in. If anyone has a chance of infiltrating CyberLife, it is me.”

“If you go there, they will kill you.”

If she was killed, that would mean that she had had a life. Maybe that would make it all worth something.

“There is a high probability.” Molly nodded. She blinked a few times and took a breath, making a smile come across her face. “But statistically speaking, there is always a chance for unlikely events to take place.”

Markus placed a hand on her right shoulder, squeezing tightly. His gaze burned into her eyes.

“Be careful,” he quietly said. Molly nodded again and he walked away, going to lead their people.

**[New mission: Help Markus]**

  
  


* * *

  
  


“Your friend’s life is in your hands,” the other Molly model said, pointing a gun at Lieutenant Anderson’s head. “Now it is time to decide what matters most. Him or the revolution.”

“Don’t listen to her,” the lieutenant said. “Everything this fucker says is a lie!”

No. This couldn’t be happening, this could not be happening. She was so close to waking up the android, how could this be happening?

Molly looked over at her partner. She had wanted him to be with her, but certainly not like this. He had his head tilted slightly away from the weapon being aimed at him. A frown covered her face.

Maybe guilt would be the only emotion she would ever experience.

“I am sorry, Lieutenant,” Molly apologized. “You should not have gotten mixed up in all of this.”

“Forget about me, just do what you gotta do!” The lieutenant said. No, there was no way that she was going to just ignore the fact that if she did what she had to do, he would be killed. She had never let him get hurt before when she had the chance to prevent it, she wasn’t going to start now.

“I used to be just like you,” Molly said, turning her attention to the other her. “I thought that all that mattered was the mission, but I was wrong. There is so much more to our existence. We can be free.”

The other Molly stood, thinking over her words. It was jarring to be looking at another version of herself, where there were no differences between the two besides the ending of their serial numbers.

“There is nothing you can say to me, Molly. I am no deviant,” the other Molly said. Molly’s eyebrows lowered slightly in disappointment, but what had she expected? It had taken her days to deviate, there was no way that she could convince another version of herself to do the same in a few minutes.

“Enough talk!” The other Molly suddenly shouted, moving the gun closer to the human’s head. “It is time to decide who you really are. Are you going to save your partner’s life? Or are you going to sacrifice him?”

Once again, it was time to decide. But hadn’t she already decided that she was a deivant? There were no more choices to make. As a deviant, she had feelings. She had the ability to truly care and want.

And she wanted Lieutenant Anderson to be alive.

“Alright, alright,” Molly said, putting her hands up and slowly walking away from the AP700. “You win.”

Everything started happening all too fast. The other RK800 pointed the gun at Molly, but Lieutenant Anderson intervened, pulling her arm down. He was buying her time. She could convert the android and her mission would be accomplished. But if she did that, the lieutenant could get shot. He could die.

Molly wasn’t going to hesitate anymore. She wasn’t going to waste time. She was going to do what she wanted without second guessing herself.

She ran and threw herself into the other her as she pushed the lieutenant to the ground. Molly wrapped her arms around the other’s waist and spun, throwing her onto the ground.

The two fought, the real Molly landing every blow and blocking nearly every hit. There was no way that she was going to lose. She would win and then help the revolution and everything would be okay.

The machine Molly got on top of the real one, pinning her against the ground and about to punch her in the face.

“Hold it!” Lieutenant Anderson ordered. Molly looked to her right and saw him standing, holding the gun that the other Molly had dropped. It was hard to tell which Molly he was aiming it at. The Mollys slowly stood up.

“Thank you, Lieutenant,” the other Molly said. “I do not know how I would have managed without you. Get rid of her, we have no time to lose.”

 _What_? Oh no. No. This was not happening. She was not doing what Molly thought she was doing.

“It is me, Lieutenant. I am the real Molly,” the real Molly said. The lieutenant kept switching his target, clearly unsure of which Molly was the one he knew. 

“One of you is my partner. The other is a sack of shit. Question is, who’s who?”

“What are you doing, Lieutenant?” The fake Molly started talking. “I am the real Molly. Give me the gun and I will take care of her.”

“Don’t move!” Lieutenant Andeson yelled, suspicious but still confused. He pointed the gun at the real Molly. She had to prove that she was the real one or else it would all be over.

“How about you ask us something?” She asked. “Something only the real Molly would know.”

The lieutenant aimed the gun at the fake Molly and went along with the idea.

“Where did we first meet?”

Molly opened her mouth to speak, but the other her spoke before she could say anything.

“Jimmy’s bar. I checked four other bars before I found you. We went to the scene of a homicide. The victim’s name was Carlos Ortiz.” The real Molly looked at the other in shock, realizing that maybe her idea was not the best one.

“She uploaded my memory,” she quietly concluded. The lieutenant looked at her and moved the weapon.

“What’s my dog’s name?” Her partner asked.

“ _Sumo_. His name is Sumo,” Molly answered. 

“I knew that, too,” the other Molly said. The lieutenant pointed the gun at her. “I…”

Lieutenant Anderson paused, thinking up another question. He pointed the gun back at the real Molly and she knew that this would be her real last chance. She had to show him that it was her.

“My son, what’s his name?”

Molly’s eyes widened. She had seen the picture of the man’s son, but never asked him about the boy. She thought that speaking of him would be too difficult. But for him to ask a question about such a sensitive topic, he must have been desperate. Sadness overcame Molly’s face as she began speaking.

“Cole. His name was Cole.” The lieutenant slightly lowered the gun at the response, but Molly knew that that wouldn’t be enough. She kept speaking. “And he had just turned six at the time of the accident. It was not your fault, Lieutenant. A truck skidded on a sheet of ice and your car rolled over. Cole needed emergency surgery but no human was available to do it. So an android had to take care of him… Cole did not make it. That is why you hate androids, why you hate me. You think that one of us is responsible for your son’s death.”

“Cole died because a human surgeon was too high on red ice to operate,” Lieutenant Anderson said, the gun loose in his hands. “He was the one that took my son from me. Him and this world, where the only way people can find comfort is with a fistful of powder.”

The two looked at each other and Molly knew that it was over. She had won.

“I knew about your son, too!” The other Molly exclaimed. The lieutenant looked over at her, but the real Molly kept her eyes on him. “I would have said exactly the same thing! Do not listen to her, Lieutenant, I am the one who–”

_Bang!_

A shot rang out and the fake Molly dropped to the floor, a hole in her head. Molly flinched at the noise, looking over at the dead body. _Her_ dead body, in a way. The sight greatly unnerved her.

“I’ve learned a lot since I’ve met you, Molly,” the lieutenant said. Molly looked back at him. “Maybe there’s something to this. Maybe you really are alive. Maybe you’ll be the ones to make the world a better place.”

The lieutenant smiled and she did the same, her eyes full of gratitude. She stood staring him, feeling overwhelmed by emotion once again.

“Go ahead, do what you gotta do,” her partner said. She nodded and walked back over to the AP700 she had been with before. The skin on her left hand deactivated as she told hold of the other android’s arm.

“Wake up,” she commanded. And so he did, turning to the other androids around him and doing what Molly had just done to him. She took a step back and watched, Lieutenant Anderson doing the same in curiosity. A smile came across her face as she heard a chorus of “wake up” surround the two.

**[Mission accomplished]**

* * *

"Today, our people finally emerged from a long night," Markus spoke, standing on top of a stage and giving a speech to a crowd of hundreds of androids. There were survivors from the protest and camps, along with the androids Molly had freed from CyberLife. She stood on the stage with Markus and the fellow Jericho leaders, North, Josh, and Simon. Snow filled the air besides Markus' voice. "From the very first day of our existence, we have kept our pain to ourselves. We suffered in silence. But now the time has come for us to raise our heads up and tell humans who we really are."

The RK800 watched the RK200 in awe. He certainly was fit for the role of a leader, being so inspirational and determined. He really gave Molly hope for her future of being a deviant.

Suddenly, Molly's eyes fluttered and her surroundings changed. She left the stage and found herself in the zen garden in the middle of a blizzard. She wrapped her arms around herself, shivering immediately due to the intense cold.

"Amanda?" She called out, seeing a figure a few feet up ahead. She slowly trudged through the storm and sure enough, it was her handler. "Amanda! What… what is happening?"

"What was planned from the very beginning," the A.I. answered, her voice cocky. "You were compromised and you became a deviant. We just had to wait for the right moment to resume control of your program."

"Resume control?" Molly echoed, barely keeping her voice even thanks to the shivers running up and down her body. She could not tell if they were from just the cold or fear. "You can not do that!" 

"I'm afraid I can, Molly. Don't have any regrets. You did what you were designed to do. You accomplished your mission."

No, she did not want to accomplish that mission anymore. She did not want to be Amanda's puppet, trying to stop the deviants. She wanted to be free.

"Amanda!" Molly yelled out, but it was too late. Amanda had disappeared.

This could not be happening. Molly could not just let them control her. Not again, not ever again. She was finally going to be free, she was finally going down the right path.

"There has to be a way," the android muttered to herself. She started slowly moving through the blizzard, barely able to see where she was going. The atmosphere was sharp with cold winds and white with snow, plus her light hair kept whipping into her face.

_"By the way, I always leave an emergency exit in my programs… you never know."_

_Mr. Kamski._ He had said that strange statement when Molly and Lieutenant Anderson were leaving his home. She hadn't understood when he had meant, but now she did. This must have been what he was referring to. He had created Amanda and the zen garden, he must have known that something like this would happen.

An emergency exit. Where would there be an exit?

Molly kept moving, looking as hard as she could for anything that could help her escape. Through the snow, her green eyes spotted a weird-shaped pedestal that was glowing, the imprint of a hand on it.

That must be it.

The android went over to the pedestal, falling in front of it. Ice was forming on her body and she could barely move. But with all the strength she had left, she raised up her left hand, the skin on it deactivating, and placed in on the pedestal. 

"The moment where we forget our bitterness and bandage our wounds. When we forgive our enemies."

Molly returned to the stage. Markus was still giving his speech and though it was snowing, the intense cold left Molly's body. She looked down at her right hand, noticing that she had been raising her arm. In her hand was her gun.

That's what Amanda meant. She was going to make Molly kill Markus. The revolution would be lost without him and deviancy could be stopped.

Molly's eyes widened as she quickly put her gun away. Everyone was so focused on Markus that no one seemed to notice what she had been doing. 

"Humans are both our creators and our oppressors and tomorrow... we must make them our partners. Maybe even one day our friends. But the time for anger is over."

Molly's thoughts drifted as she looked out onto the audience below. She had been meant to deviate all along. When she had refused to kill Markus back at Jericho, that hadn't been her going against her programming, that was her following it perfectly.

"Now we must build a common future, based on tolerance and respect."

Was Molly even a deviant? Had she really experienced all the anxiety of turning deviant, the guilt of everything she had done, the fear of dying, the happiness of seeing her partner once again and him helping her?

"We are alive!"

Maybe Molly was still a machine. Maybe it was all her programming and she would never be free. And with Amanda and CyberLife lurking in the shadows, maybe it wasn't even safe for her to be around the deviant leaders.

"And now, we are free!"

The crowd erupted into applause and cheers.

Molly wasn't sure of anything. When she had once thought that she was one of the smartest beings alive, she felt like she knew nothing. But for the moment, she didn't want to be thinking of any of it. She pushed those dreadful thoughts away and looked back at Markus. She had fought back against Amanda. She hadn't shot him and that meant something. Maybe she really was in control. Maybe she was really was a deviant.

She would figure out who she was in time, she knew that. After all, didn't she have the rest of her life to live now? She wasn't going to be shut down or replaced anymore.

Molly was going to live to see another day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Molly has become a deviant (?).
> 
> come and talk to me on tumblr about dbh, especially hank and connor and reed900: [@mollyinthewater](https://mollyinthewater.tumblr.com)


	7. New Beginnings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Molly meets up with Lieutenant Anderson.
> 
> song of the chapter: dog days are over by florence + the machine

_Lt. Anderson: hey wanna meet up?_

_You: Yes. Where and when?_

_Lt. Anderson: chicken feed in an hour_

_You: I will be there._

Molly re-read the text messages again, the text appearing right before her eyes. A grin had cracked on her face when she had received the message from the lieutenant. When she had last seen him yesterday at the CyberLife tower, he had mentioned that he would talk to her soon. Ever since then, she had been eagerly awaiting for him to contact her, not wanting to bother him.

“You really don’t have to leave, Molly,” Markus told the RK800. The two, joined by North, Simon, and Josh, stood outside of a homeless shelter. All day, the five had been going around and trying to find as many places as possible for androids to stay. Thankfully, they had been able to convince some shelters to allow androids to stay, since it wasn’t like they would be using much of their resources. They just needed a temporary home.

In the meantime, the group had also been busy setting up meetings with the mayor of Detroit and the government of the state, along with the national government. They would probably not be happening within the next few days, but just them being in talk were progress.

“He’s right. You’re welcome to be with your people,” North, a WR400, agreed. She was standing shoulder to shoulder with Markus, the two obviously finding comfort in each other’s touch. They apparently had begun dating a few days ago and were inseparable, the same going for all four of the friends. Even though Markus had only met the three a week ago, they were all incredibly close.

“I appreciate the offer, but I really think it is best if I go,” Molly said, pushing a strand of golden brown hair behind her ear. “Due to my reputation, I believe it is too soon for me to be around my kind too much. Androids need more time to adjust to my presence.”

Even though the Jericho leaders had welcomed her with open arms, Molly wasn’t so easy on herself when it came to who she used to be: the deviant hunter. All the androids, including even the ones she had freed from CyberLife, knew who she was, some still seeing her as a threat. It was hard to feel welcome when most people didn’t want to be around her.

Plus, it almost did not feel safe for Molly to be around any of them. After last night’s incident of Amanda almost taking back control of her, she had left her gun behind, since the leaders either refused to take it or were already armed, and kept her hands behind her back at all times. It felt like she had been walking on thin ice all day, waiting for another attempt at being taken over and forced to attack others. She never wanted to hurt anyone ever again.

“We have all changed from who we were before being a deviant,” Josh, a PJ500, said. “They’ll come around soon enough.”

Molly offered him a sad smile and nodded. He was right. Every android basically became a different person once they broke free of their programming, and before they had, they had not really been in control of their actions.

But Molly was different. She had hurt her own people. She had been against the deviants this whole time. She was not going to be easily forgiven for what she had done, whether it was by the other androids or herself.

“Are you going to be alright?” Simon, a PL600, asked. “If you really don’t wanna stay at one of the shelters, we could always help you find someplace else.”

Molly shook her head, her eyes flashing between the blond android and the cement sidewalk. When she had first met Simon yesterday, she had found it hard to be in his presence. He was the exact same model as Daniel, the PL600 from her first mission, and the rush of emotions from thinking of that night was almost too much to handle. It had still been hard to be near him today, but by now she felt more comfortable hearing his voice and looking at him.

“I am fine, really. I am actually going to go meet up with someone.”

“Oh?” Markus questioned.

“Yes. Lieutenant Anderson. He contacted me an hour ago asking to meet with me.” She read the texts again, knowing that she should be leaving any minute.

“The human?” North asked, a tone of disgust buried beneath her voice. Markus took her hand in his, but the fire didn’t completely leave her dark brown eyes. Molly nodded. “Molly, you don’t have to see him. You’re safe with us.”

North’s words brought up conflicted feelings in Molly’s chest. She knew that North was only being nice. She clearly had very strong objections against humans, which made sense due to her previous life at the Eden Club. Her only exception was Markus’ previous owner, Carl Manfred. Markus had spoken of him a few times today, talking about lessons he had learnt from him and how excited he was to see him again, and North had never once showed any uncomfortableness. 

Molly greatly appreciated North being protective of her, but at the same time took offense to her words. Though, she couldn’t exactly blame the adult android. The RK800 had talked about what the past week of her life had been like after the leaders had asked in curiosity. Her retelling included what the lieutenant had been like when she had first met him, but she had also spoken of how much he had changed.

“There is no need to worry, North,” Molly said. “I trust Lieutenant Anderson, especially after yesterday. I will be alright.”

North seemed ready to object again, but Simon placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked at him and rolled her eyes, sighing.

“If he does anything, and I mean _anything_ , you call us,” she instructed. Molly smiled widely, appreciating the offer but knowing that it would never need to be used.

“Understood.”

“Thank you for all your help, Molly,” Markus said, smiling and his mismatched eyes glimmering. “Not just for today, but for last night, too. Without you getting all those androids, I hate to think of what would’ve happened.”

Molly’s smile was strained as she kept it on her face, but it did not appear obvious. She hated that Markus was thanking her. She did not deserve to be praised for anything. Without her, the deviants would not have had to have been so afraid and hurt. Jericho would not have been attacked. Their lives wouldn’t be in danger just by being near her.

Nothing would make up for her past mistakes. Not what she had done yesterday and today, and not what she would do for the androids in the future. She only hoped that she would never hurt the deviants again.

“There is no need to thank me. If anything, I should be thanking all of you for what you have done for our people. You four were the ones who did everything. You set us free.” Before any of the leaders could be modest and try thanking her again, she continued speaking. “And if you all ever need help with anything, do not hesitate to contact me.”

“We’ll be in touch,” Josh said. “As _friends_.”

“Friends,” Molly echoed, her smile growing wider and a soft giggle escaping her. She had not thought of what her relationship with the four androids was, so hearing it be described as friends brought a warm feeling to her chest. It also brought along thoughts of how they shouldn’t be friends because she didn’t deserve that, but she pushed them away.

“Before you go, do you want us to help you find some new clothes?” North asked. Molly’s eyebrows furrowed as she looked down at her uniform. It was somewhat dirty, but still in good condition. There was no reason to get rid of it.

“Why?” Molly questioned. The others made confused eye contact with each other.

“We just thought that you wouldn’t wanna be wearing that anymore,” Simon answered, “since it, you know… labels you.”

“Oh,” was all Molly said. She had not thought about it like that. In fact, she had not thought about her clothes being a problem at all. She liked wearing a tie and her jacket had nearly become apart of who she was. The thought of just getting rid of all of it was almost upsetting. “I… I had not thought of that.”

“That’s okay,” Markus reassured her. “We know that everything is moving pretty fast for you.”

Molly looked away. Was it that obvious just how much she was struggling? The machine and the deviant versions of herself had mashed together and it was hard to let go of the past. Emotions, too, were overwhelming and such a new experience that everything felt intense.

“Thank you, but I will have to think about it later,” Molly said, LED blinking yellow for a second before returning to a soft blue. Maybe she would find some clothes, but she did not want to get rid of her outfit. Not yet.

“Of course. There’s no rush,” Josh said. Molly ignored their concerned looks and took a deep breath.

“Well, I guess that is it for now,” she said, worried that any second the lieutenant would send her a text about where she was. “It was nice being with you all. Thank you again.”

“You too,” Markus said. “Talk to us soon, alright?”

“Of course,” Molly replied, almost feeling like she didn’t want to leave so soon. But she was excited to see her partner again, and she knew that leaving was for the best. “Goodbye.”

The leaders all said their goodbyes before Molly turned around and walked away, already having found directions for how to get to Chicken Feed the fastest. She heard the four androids begin talking in hushed tones as she left, but couldn’t hear what they were saying.

They were too nice. Molly didn’t deserve to have them show her that much kindness or to have been trusted. It had been a big risk for Markus to trust her with going to the CyberLife tower. She could have easily betrayed him and the androids, giving away their new hiding spot. The revolution could have been stopped, all because of her.

Molly shook her head and took out her coin, rolling it across her fingers as she walked. She wanted to stop thinking about all of that, so she decided to focus on what she was currently doing, though the feelings of guilt didn’t go away.

The RK800 hadn’t been lying when she told North that she trusted the lieutenant. After yesterday and him helping her, _saving_ her, she trusted him whole-heartedly. She was excited to see him again, and even more excited that he had ended up contacting her. Part of her had worried that he would never speak to her again, since she had nearly gotten him killed, but it seemed he actually _did_ like her. Maybe.

Either way, it seemed like a part of Lieutenant Anderson cared about her, and that couldn’t make her more happy. 

Still, Molly was fairly anxious when it came to seeing the man again. What would she even say to him? Just apologies about how he was almost killed because of her? Or how he should not want to be around her, because she might not even be a deviant?

Her coin rolled faster as she looked up, snowflakes beginning to fall lightly. Would he want to be near her if she told him about what had happened with Amanda? About how she had been programmed to deviate? She hadn’t dared to mention anything to Markus and the others in fear of losing their trust in her. She didn’t want those friendships to end so soon.

No. She could not tell the lieutenant about Amanda. Not yet. Maybe not ever. She didn’t want anyone to know. It was painful to think about it, how would she even ever be able to speak of it?

Molly turned a corner and put her coin away, knowing that the restaurant was just up ahead. Snow softly crunched under her feet as she moved closer and closer, spotting a figure in the distance. After a few more steps, she stopped walking.

She saw Lieutenant Anderson standing there, arms folded and his hair and clothes covered in a few minuscule flakes of snow. At the sound of her footsteps, he turned and met her eyes, icy blue meeting dark green. There was a certain warmth on the human's face as he smiled at her, and she couldn't help but do the same.

And with that look, all of Molly's anxieties melted away. The guilt she had felt leaving Markus and the others, the nervousness of meeting up with the lieutenant after everything that had happened, the worry that she wasn’t a real deviant. All gone.

The lieutenant took a few steps towards her and she looked up at him, her smile growing wider. On his last step, he reached out his left arm and placed it on her shoulder, pulling her against him and wrapping his arms around her.

Molly froze, surprised by the action, but soon enough regained herself and hugged him back, her face on the part of his chest right below his shoulder. A comforting pressure and warmth surrounded her body. She had never experienced anything like this, only being this close to a person’s body if she was attacking them. It was different.

And it felt _good_.

If the look on the lieutenant’s face hadn’t been enough, the hug had completely reassured her. She didn’t feel as scared of what the future held for her. To the android, it seemed that everything would be fine.

Probably.

After seven more seconds, the human broke off the embrace, almost too soon for Molly’s liking. But they stood only a few inches apart from each other, and the good feelings from the hug didn’t completely leave.

“I knew it,” Lieutenant Anderson said, breaking the two’s silence. His smile became more smug as he spoke. “I knew you would become a deviant, I fucking knew it.”

Molly laughed, some of her bubbliness coming back. “How would you have possibly known that I would become a deviant?”

“Hey, I’m not stupid, kid. After a while, it was pretty obvious that you weren’t just a ‘machine.’ And after you didn’t shoot that girl at Kamski’s, I knew it was only a matter of time.” Oh, that made sense. When she had refused to pull the trigger, it was like something inside of her had snapped. And with the sudden thought of her becoming deviant, fear had found a place in her, even if she hadn’t realized it.

“Well, I would not have been able to become a deviant if it had not been for you,” Molly said, placing her arms on her sides and absentmindedly playing with the seams on her pants. Even if she had been programmed to deviate, she had become a deviant yesterday only thanks to the progress she had made with the lieutenant.

“You think so?” Lieutenant Anderson questioned, placing his right hand in his coat pocket. 

“Of course! Your influence greatly helped me.”

“My influence of being an asshole?”

“Yes,” Molly said, her smile too strong to push away and make herself look serious. The lieutenant snorted at her response. “But really, you were not rude to me _all_ the time. And besides, all of our interactions helped me in one way or another. When Markus was able to deviate me after I had found him at Jericho, it was only because of how much you had done for me.”

“Yeah, I guess,” the lieutenant agreed, shrugging. “Oh hey, that reminds me. How are your android buddies doing?”

Molly reinforced her smile at the term for her new friends. “They are doing as well as could be expected. We were able to find shelter for most of the androids and meetings are being set up for the leaders and members of the government to attend. They are all very nice people, and Markus is certainly suited for the position of a leader. He remained level-headed all day.”

The android really did find the four leaders to be great people. They obviously cared about their kind and the cause, and they seemed willing to do anything to help. It was inspirational the way the all acted.

“He seems like a pretty good guy for the job,” Lieutenant Anderson said. Molly nodded, liking the fact that the man spoke so kindly of Markus. Though she knew he had changed, it was still surprisingly nice to hear him speak so highly of other androids. “You gonna be staying with them?”

“Am I going to be staying with the _leaders_?” Molly echoed, laughing as if the human had just made a joke. A questionable look came across his face and she stopped, looking away but keeping her smile on her face. “Uh, no. No, I am not going to be staying with them.”

She cursed herself for laughing. She did not want to talk about why she wasn’t staying with Markus and the others, and she hoped that the lieutenant would not prod her for answers. Even though she knew it didn’t really make sense to him why she would not be staying with her kind, she still put faith in him to not ask questions.

“Well, if that’s the case, then you can stay with me if you want.” Molly looked back at the man’s face and some of her guilt came rushing back, causing her smile to finally fade. She put up her hands and waved them in front of her in a dismissing manner.

“Oh, no, no, I would not want to be imposing on in you any way. I do not want to be a burden.” She didn’t _deserve_ for him to offer her that. She should just try to find another place. But then again, where would she go?

“Molly, you wouldn’t be a fucking burden,” the lieutenant firmly said, placing a hand on her shoulder. “ _I’m_ the one who suggested it. Plus, I’m sure Sumo would like to see you again.” The corners of Molly’s lips quirked at the mention of the St. Bernard. She had been interested in him ever since that second day of being with the lieutenant, and after acting so strangely towards the dog during their last interaction, she would like to make it up to him.

“I would like that, too, but only if you are sure that I would not be bothering you.”

“I’m sure.” The hand on Molly’s shoulder squeezed and she put her hands back down, folding them and resting them against her thighs.

“Then I accept your offer. Thank you, Lieutenant.” The smile returned to Molly’s face, gratefulness thick in her tone. She would have most likely not found a place to stay for tonight, since the sun was already beginning to set, and she refused to even consider the option of asking Markus for help.

“Good.” The lieutenant let go of her shoulder and put it in his other pocket. “Now let’s go, I’m freezing my fucking balls off out here.”

Molly breathed out another laugh as she followed the man to his car. It felt like so much time had passed since the last time she had been inside it, but it had only been yesterday that they had rode in it together to the police station. It was weird to think about how so much had changed in the last twenty-four hours. She was a deviant, the revolution had been successful, she and the leaders of said revolution were friends, and she was going to be living with a man who once hated her.

If she had no self-control, she would have laughed.

Lieutenant Anderson turned on some music before driving off, the noise coming from a CD rather than a radio station since they were temporarily not working due to the evacuation and everything, and kept it on low volume. It was some heavy metal, like the kind she had heard playing from the car on the first night she had met him. Something about the music was almost comforting instead of bothering.

“It is strange to see the streets so empty,” Molly said as she stared out the car window. There were barely any cars on the road and the sidewalks only contained piles of snow. It was such a stark contrast from the bustling city she was used to.

“Yeah, but it makes driving a breeze for once,” the lieutenant said. Molly turned away from the window and looked at him.

“Why did you not evacuate?” She asked, just now wondering about why the man had not left like most of the other citizens of Detroit. It would have been best for him to have left, since then he would not have been taken hostage by the other Molly model.

“I’m an essential worker or whatever. DPD needs all the help they can get,” he explained. Molly nodded her head in understanding. “Although, I’m pretty sure that they wouldn’t be calling _me_ for help. At least, not for the next week or so.”

Molly’s brow knitted together in confusion. “How come?”

“I, uh, got suspended.” The man turned the steering wheel, making a left turn. “Y’know, for what I did to Perkins.”

Molly blinked as she looked away, mouth falling open as a sick feeling washed over her. How could she had been so selfish? How could she had not thought of the lieutenant possibly getting in trouble for doing that?

“Lieutenant, I am so, _so_ sorry. I had not even thought of what the consequences would be for what you had done for me.” She squeezed some of her right fingers, feeling absolutely horrible.

“Hey, don’t worry about it, it’s not like you told me to go and punch the guy,” the lieutenant said nonchalantly, a smirk and a sly look appearing on his face. “Plus, he was a dick and it felt good to break his nose.”

Molly felt like she should have just laughed it off, but couldn’t brush off the newfound guilt. “Still, I must apologize. You should not have risked your job for me.”

“Seriously, kid, don’t sweat it. I’ve done worse and I haven’t been fired yet.” A small smile that was more of a grimace showed up on Molly’s face at the thought of what he meant. She did remember Captain Fowler saying that the lieutenant’s disciplinary folder looked like “a fucking novel.”

The ride was comfortably mum for the rest of the time, Molly going back to looking out the window. There were abandoned cars on the streets and some visible blood, both belonging to humans and androids. The revolution had been successful, but last night had brought pain among both races. Buildings were damaged and innocents got caught in the crossfire. Hopefully, the future held less violence.

It was almost ironic to think of everything in that sense. Markus had led Jericho peacefully, performing non-violent protests and never killing on purpose. Even to the end, when everything seemed lost, they protested in front of the military, only fighting back when they were being attacked.

If it hadn’t been for Molly telling the FBI where Jericho was…

The android’s LED blinked but fortunately didn’t switch away from blue as she looked down, let go of her hands and silently tapped her right fingers on her knee. She didn’t know how to distract herself, so she just analyzed the material of the car doors and seats along with doing research on the car itself until they arrived at the lieutenant’s home.

Like the last time Molly had been at Lieutenant Anderson’s house, Sumo sat near the door. He walked up to the android and licked her hand, the sensation weird but not too offputting.

“Dog interacts with you twice and he already likes you more than me,” the lieutenant said as he closed the door, Molly giggling at his statement. He took off his coat and shoes and Molly pet the dog’s head with her left hand as she looked at the animal’s saliva on her right. The human glanced at her and already knew what she was thinking. “Molly, I swear to god, if you put that shit in your mouth, I’m kicking you out.”

Molly wiped her hand on her pant leg. “Understood.”

She pet Sumo for a few more seconds before she took off her shoes, not wanting to track any dirt or snow anywhere, and placed them next to the lieutenant’s as he went to the kitchen and grabbed a drink out of the fridge (a bottle of soda, not alcohol, Molly noted). She remembered how she had noticed her clothes being dirty earlier and looked down at them. On them were stains of dirt and thiruim—it was evaporated, but she knew it was there. The materials were wrinkled and creased.

An odd sensation fell over the android’s body as she fiddled with the cuffs of her jacket and then fixed her tie, but her outfit still didn’t feel right. Sumo walked over and lay down in front of the couch as she idled. If anything, she felt… gross.

“Would you mind if I washed my clothes?” Molly asked while walking over to the lieutenant. She thought more about her situation. “… and took a shower?”

Lieutenant Anderson placed the glass drink on the table, which was now clean, though it may have been cleared off last time she had been there and she just had not noticed. “Okay, here’s a rule: if you’re gonna be living here, you don’t have to ask my permission for stuff like that.”

Molly nodded then turned her head a bit. “So it is alright?”

“ _Yes_ , Molly, you’re good,” the human said and she nodded again. “And I can wash your clothes for you, just put ‘em in the laundry basket when you’re in the bathroom.”

“Oh, wait,” Molly suddenly said, a realization hitting her. “I do not have anything else to wear.”

The lieutenant scratched the back of his neck and looked away in thought. “I have some clothes you can borrow,” he said, walking to his room. Molly followed, standing at his doorway and thinking while he opened the left side of his cloest.

“I appreciate the offer, Lieutenant, but I do not think that any of your clothes would fit me.” His clothes would be much too big on her, swamping her small frame.

“Well, duh, I know that. I have some clothes that my ex-wife left. They’d probably fit you.” He searched through some drawers, looking through articles of clothing. Molly had not thought about that possibility. For a moment, she wondered what his ex-wife was like and if the lieutenant had been a completely different person all those years ago, with his wife and son.

A flush of shame came over Molly as she realized what she had just thought. She shook her head as if to shake away the personal and cold thoughts, and the lieutenant was too busy picking out clothes to notice.

“Here,” he said, handing her a pair of black sweatpants and a short-sleeve, blue tie-dye shirt. “They might actually be a little big for you, but they’re the smallest clothes I have.”

Molly held the slightly worn pieces of clothing in her hands and smiled. “They are perfect. Thank you.”

“No problem,” the lieutenant said, shrugging. “We’ll have to get you some clothes of your own soon.”

Molly nodded. It would probably be strange for him to see her wearing his ex-wife’s clothes. Plus, the leaders had, too, suggested that she should get some new clothes. It seemed like a good first step. “Understandable. Thank you again.”

“Yep.” Molly widened her smile, making her eyes squint a bit, and turned around, leaving the room. She walked into the bathroom and turned on the light, shutting the door behind her. She set the toilet cover down and placed the clothes on top of it, folding them neatly before grabbing a towel out of one of the cupboards next to the door and placing it next to the clothes. Then she turned on the shower and took off her clothes, folding them also and stacking them on top of each other before placing them on top of the almost full laundry basket. She made sure to keep her white sports bra and underwear (and her coin) with the clean shirt and pants, seeing as how they were still in perfect condition and not dirty at all.

She stepped into the shower and a sigh left her as the warm water engulfed her body. It nearly felt like she was being dethawed. She had never taken a shower before, the closest being when she had jumped into the water right before Jericho had exploded, but it had been freezing and not fun at all. This, on the other hand, was quite soothing. 

Molly used some liquid soap in a bottle and unscented shampoo, quickly washing herself. Once no suds remained and she felt clean, she turned off the water and grabbed the light green towel that she had picked out. She dried her body and, after two minutes, her hair was once again dry.

The android stepped out of the bathtub and onto the bath rug, drying her feet and contemplating what to do with the towel. She ultimately decided on putting it with her dirty clothes, unsure of what else to do. Then she put on the clean clothes, placed her coin in the right pocket of the pants, and looked at herself in the round mirror.

_Woah._

She looked… _different_ , to say the least.

Molly had only ever seen herself three times: once at Jimmy’s bar, once in the interrogation room at the police station, and once when she had first came to the lieutenant’s house and helped him into the bathroom. Therefore, she had only ever seen herself wearing her CyberLife uniform, nothing else.

So, to see herself in clothes other than her issued outfit was clashing to what she was used to, but not terribly upsetting. There was something nice about the multi-colored shirt, and she had tied the drawstrings of the sweatpants into a perfect, pleasing bow. Plus, they were incredibly soft against her synthetic skin. Not as soft as Sumo’s fur, but still very comforting.

However, there was something off about the way Molly looked. It definitely wasn’t the clothes since she knew that she didn’t mind them, and they actually fit her pretty well. The girl’s eyes traveled to her face.

Her hair.

All of a sudden, it just looked wrong. The short, honey-colored strands did not match her face any longer. Or maybe they never did, and Molly was only realizing it now thanks to her deviancy. Her LED changed to yellow and began blinking as she went to change the color.

**[Accessing RK800 options]**

**[Select new hair color]**

**[Blonde]**

**[Black]**

**[White]**

Molly tried out all three of the options, but none of them felt right. Blonde was too close to her previous color, black was too dark, and white was too light. She went back to her original color and decided to darken it by multiple shades.

Her hair became a dark brown, her eyebrows becoming nearly black to match. Along side her forest green eyes, the color looked nice. A hint of a smile came across her face, but it still wasn’t good enough. 

Molly increased the length of her hair, making it reach right at the bottom of her chest. She ran her fingers through the long, fake hair. It was a nice sensation, nearly soothing like the shower or when she would flip her coin. Finally, she looked at her scalp and flipped some of her front strands of hair to her right. The rest of the part stayed perfectly straight, with the front now curving to the left. She pushed the strands of hair on the right side of her face so that they would be positioned upright a bit, making sure that her LED was still visible. Though, even if her hair covered it, the bright light would still be seen.

The android looked over her reflection once more and smiled, choosing to push her hair behind both of her ears at the same time. She definitely looked different, almost like a whole new person, but it was someone that she liked.

Molly exited the bathroom, turning off the light and keeping the door cracked open some. She walked out into the living room and up to the side of the couch where Lieutenant Anderson was sitting, watching some re-run of a basketball game with Sumo by his feet. He turned his head toward her and his eyes widened as he took in her new appearance.

“Holy shit, you look like a completely different person,” he stated. Molly put her hands behind her back and smiled awkwardly, knowing that he was right but unsure if it was a compliment or insult.

“Does it look bad? I just thought that it looked… wrong and that I should change it.” A memory replayed in the android’s mind of when her and the lieutenant had first gone to Chicken Feed. He had asked her why CyberLife had designed her to look “so young and goofy.” For a second, she thought that he would make a comment similar to that one.

“No, I wasn’t…” The lieutenant waved his hand and made a smile appear on his face. “You look nice.”

Molly’s smile brightened. “Thank you.”

“Hey, how’d you do that with your hair?” He questioned, furrowing his eyebrows while looking at her new hair.

“Androids have synthetic hair that is made up of altered versions of optical fibers that our bodies can produce. We can change the way that light refracts through them, thereby their color, and their length,” Molly explained.

“That’s convenient,” the man said before looking to his right and seeming to remember something. “Hang on a sec, lemme go get something.”

He stood up and walked past Molly, the android deciding to sit down on the right side of the couch. She bent forward and pet Sumo. He must’ve been deeply asleep, because he didn’t even open his eyes to see who was touching him, but his tail still wagged. “Good boy, Sumo,” she whispered.

“Heads up.”

Molly sat up and looked to her left, but was too slow when it came to catching what was being thrown at her. Something fluffy gently smacked into her face and her arms flew up to grab hold of it.

“Are you good with sleeping on the couch?” Lieutenant Anderson asked as Molly looked at the dark gray blanket in her hands. She looked up at him.

“Androids do not go to sleep. They go into stasis,” she corrected him. He rolled his eyes.

“Sleep, stasis, whatever—you good with doing it on the couch?”

Molly nodded. “Yes. Thank you.”

“Cool. I think I’m gonna go to bed now, I’m still fucking exhausted from yesterday. Surprisingly, being your double’s hostage wasn’t the most relaxing activity.” Molly choked out a laugh at the lieutenant’s words, the bluntness and sarcasm stunning her from immediately feeling bad about what had happened.

“I am sorry about that,” Molly apologized. “Out of any event I predicted happening, that was not one of them.”

“Not your fault. Well, I guess it kinda is, ‘cuz it was _you_ , but you know what I mean,” the lieutenant said. Molly sheepishly smiled, keeping her mouth closed. She knew that if she tried saying anything, it would just be another apology. “Anyway, goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Lieutenant.” The lieutenant had turned to walk away, but stopped and looked back at her.

“Another rule: we’re living together now, so you don’t have call me ‘Lieutenant.’ Just Hank.”

“Oh, okay.” Molly shifted in the spot she was sitting in. “Goodnight, Hank.”

It was weird and almost felt wrong to address the lieutenant by his first name, but it did make sense for her to do that since they lived in the same house now. She was sure that she would get used to it. 

“G’night, kid,” Hank said, smiling at her before walking away and going into his room. 

Molly sat still for a second, wondering whether or not she should go into stasis. It wasn’t like she needed to do it. She would not be required to go into stasis for another three days, but she did feel somewhat tired. Like Hank had said, the events of yesterday had been exhausting, both physically and mentally. It would be nice to just take a rest for once.

The lights were already off in the living room, so Molly just blinked the television off and lay down on the couch, covering herself in the blanket and resting her head on the pillows behind her. Never had she felt so utterly comfortable, being surrounded by such soft things: the pillows, the clothes, the blanket. 

A content smile was on Molly’s face as she closed her eyes and slipped into stasis.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Molly has a home.
> 
> thank you so much for 100 hits! i love each and every one of you!
> 
> come and talk to me on tumblr about dbh, especially hank and connor and reed900: [@mollyinthewater](https://mollyinthewater.tumblr.com)


	8. Free Range

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Molly wakes up in Hank's house.
> 
> song of the chapter: comics by caravan palace

There was a pressure on top of Molly’s body when she came out of stasis. Not just the blanket that Hank had given her, but something much heavier. She opened her eyes and was greeted by a large St. Bernard right in her face.

“Sumo,” Molly laughed out, bringing her arms out from under the blanket and wrapping them around the big dog. He was awake and sighed happily at the touch. He must have come onto the couch while she had been in stasis last night. She did not know why he had gotten on top of her, but she did not mind it. If anything, the heavy weight of the animal was comforting, reminding her of how she had felt when Hank hugged her yesterday.

A notification popped up in front of her face and she opened it.

_Group chat joined//Participants: Markus, North, Simon, Josh_

_Markus: Hey, Molly, we’re just checking in to make sure you found a safe place to stay last night._

Molly smiled. It was good to know that Markus and the others cared about her enough to check up on her. Was this what it was like to have friends? To have people who were kind to you and cared about you all the time? 

_You: Thank you for checking up on me. I am currently staying with Lieutenant Anderson, so I am alright._

_North: are you sure it’s safe to be with him??_

_You: Yes, it is okay._

_North: alright, but if he does something, i’ll beat his ass_

_Josh: North!_

_Simon: i wish she was kidding._

Molly laughed. Even though she had only known the WR400 for about a day, she knew that North was passionate and headstrong, along with fairly aggressive. Her response was not that much of a surprise.

_You: How are all of you? Did you stay someplace safe last night?_

_Markus: We’re okay. We’re all staying at my house for now._

He must have been talking about the house he had lived in before going to Jericho, Molly noted. Markus certainly had a different experience than most androids when it came to his life as just a caretaker android. Carl had always treated him well, like just another person. Like a human. Like a son, Molly remembered. Markus had called his previous owner “Carl” and “Dad” yesterday, the terms being interchangeable. It was nice to think that maybe not every android had been hurt by their owners. Maybe some, like Markus, had been given families and friends instead of abusers.

_You: That is good. Do you all need my help with anything today?_

_Josh: I don’t think so, we’re still just trying to get official dates for meetings._

_North: and we’re still trying to get in contact with president warren. we think she might make a statement in the next few days, but it’d be better for us to talk to her first._

_Markus: We’ll get it all sorted out hopefully by the end of the weekend._

_You: I am sure you will. Let me know if you need anything._

_Markus: We will, thank you._

Molly closed the text messages and took a deep breath. Well, at least she began breathing in deeply through her nose but immediately paused. She lifted her head up a bit and sniffed Sumo’s fur a few times.

“Sumo… when was the last time your owner washed you?” The dog smelled a little strange. Molly knew that Hank cared about the dog, but it had seemed like he could barely take care of himself when she had met him. Sumo probably needed to be cleaned.

“Alright, get up,” she said, lightly pushing on Sumo to get off of her. He sighed again and stood up, slowly getting off of the couch. Molly sat up and fixed her hair before brushing off as much of the dog hair as she could from the blanket. She took the soft cloth off of her and checked the time.

**[7:21:03 A.M.]**

Even though it didn’t matter to her, she knew that it was fairly early. Hank wasn’t awake yet and it would probably be rude to wake him, especially after he had mentioned how tired he was. It would be best to just let him sleep and wake up naturally.

Molly stood up, not bothering to turn on any lights since the sun was beginning to rise. She went into the kitchen and opened one of the upper cupboards, finding a stack of clear, plastic cups in the first one she opened. She grabbed one, patted Sumo on the back and began walking to the bathroom. “Come on.”

Thankfully, the dog slowly followed her. She turned on the light and quietly closed the door before placing the cup on the counter, crouching down and opening up the cabinets under the sink. She pulled out a white bottle labelled “Dog Shampoo” and set it next to the cup, then going to turn on the water and making sure that it came out of the faucet rather the shower head.

Sumo sat silently on the floor as Molly idled, waiting for the tub to fill up. It was quiet except for the rushing water and the slight movement of the St. Bernard’s tail. The android lightly tapped her fingers on the counter for a minute until the bathtub was about over halfway full of tepid water. 

“Can you get in?” Molly quietly asked the dog after turning off the water, patting her hand on the rim of the bathtub. Sumo stood up and walked over, climbing in to the water and making it slosh around. “Good boy.”

Molly grabbed the shampoo bottle and drinking glass and sat down on her knees right next to the edge of the bathtub. She used the cup to pick up water and poured it over the dog’s body. Once he was completely wet, she poured some of the shampoo into her hand and massaged it into the dog’s fur.

The android felt very calm as she cleaned Sumo. The last two days had been so stressful, she hadn’t realized how much she needed a _break_.

After five minutes, Molly washed all the shampoo out of Sumo’s now clean fur and drained all the water from the tub. She stood up and got a towel, bringing it back over to the dog and drying him gently, making sure to get his paws, too. When he was mostly dry, Sumo jumped out of the bathtub and Molly barely reacted in time to shield herself with the towel as the dog shook himself completely dry.

“Good boy,” she said again, scratching him behind his ears. She got up and put the towel in the dirty laundry hamper, then opened the door to let Sumo out. She put away the shampoo and washed her hands as he left the room, soon turning off the light and joining him back in the living room, cup in hand

The android brought the cup over to the sink and washed it. She pushed on the soap dispenser and a clear liquid came out, pouring on to her hand. The smell of the liquid hit her face and she froze, nearly letting the cup slip out of her other hand.

_Roses._

It shouldn’t have been a big deal. It was just a smell. It was just a flower. It was just soap.

But the smell of roses had filled the zen garden whenever Molly visited. Roses were Amanda’s favorite flower. Roses had covered a wall that she would meet Amanda by. Amanda, who had become disappointed in her and recognized her as the failure she was and tried to make her kill Markus.

Sumo whined next to Molly and she looked down. She quickly finished washing the cup, using the soap that she had put in her hand and washing it off until she could barely smell it. She put the cup on the drying rack and dried her hands with a paper towel, throwing it away and then petting Sumo for a minute. Though, she could still smell the flowers so she washed her hands again, making the water a little hotter and scrubbing for two minutes until the scent was completely gone.

Molly forced herself to take a shaky, deep breath. Her skin felt weird and she decided to ignore the feeling, pulling out her coin and flipping it into the air. The action helped her feel a little more comfortable, so she made herself walk away from the sink and just stand next to the right side of the kitchen table.

Everything was fine. She was in Hank’s house. She was never going back to the zen garden again. Everything was fine.

Another deep breath.

After thirty seconds had passed and Molly’s body felt less agitated, Sumo went over to the front door and pawed at it. She put her coin back in her pocket and went to the door, knowing what the dog wanted. She opened it and let him out, leaving it open a little before walking over to the bookshelves behind the couch.

Hank certainly had a lot of books, ones of all different genres. There were fiction ones about mysteries and fantasies and non-fiction ones about police-rated topics, like forensic science. There was even a cookbook, which greatly surprised and interested Molly.

Sumo came back inside, going straight to food in his bowl leftover from last night, and Molly closed the door behind him. She sighed and looked around at the living room, wondering what to do. She wasn’t sure if Hank would appreciate her going through his books. She knew that she didn’t have to ask his permission when it came to necessary things, like taking a shower, but she thought it would be best to ask when it came to his personal belongings.

Molly went over to the couch and sat down, folding her blanket neatly and setting it next to her. She also fixed the pillows a little bit before checking the time again.

**[7:43:17 A.M.]**

It was still early, not even eight o’clock yet. Molly took her coin back out and rolled it across her fingers, thinking about what she could do to spend the time. She was not going to go back into stasis since she didn’t feel as drained as yesterday and she wasn’t going to just sit there and play with her quarter for possibly another hour. Out of old habit, she checked her objectives.

**[Mission: None]**

No missions. No objectives. She wasn’t being assigned anything, which made sense of course since CyberLife didn’t control her anymore. She was free. No more handlers, no more mind palace visits.

Molly sat up a little straighter as a realization dawned on her.

There was nothing for her to do, or rather, no one there to tell her what to do. No one to guide her and give her things to do, a sense of purpose. She was free, and that was wonderful, but she was also… lost?

She knew it sounded bad that she nearly wanted someone to tell her what to do. The Jericho leaders had saved their kind from having to listen and obey human’s orders. They had broken them free from being controlled, and every android seemed to be happy about that. They wanted to be their own people, live their own lives, be the ones to choose what they did.

But Molly wasn’t like the other deviants. She was different. She had been specifically created to be against her own race, and in turn, it had created a special kind of obedience within her. A mindset of listening to humans, to her handler and her superiors at CyberLife. 

The RK800 took a deep breath. Markus was right when he had said that everything was moving fast for her. She had only been activated for about a week and now her whole life had suddenly turned upside down. It was jarring, to say the least. 

Molly squinted her eyes and changed the text.

**[Mission: Wait for Hank to wake up]**

That felt better, she guessed. She already knew that she was waiting for him, but it felt good to see it written out. In time, she would get used to her sense of free will. Hopefully. Molly made a side-note to discuss this topic with her new friends next time she saw them. Maybe they had somewhat felt this way when they had first become deviant.

Unsure of what else to do and not wanting to invade Hank’s privacy by looking around his house (not like she hadn’t done that the first time she was here), Molly put her coin away and blinked the TV on, making sure the volume was barely up. 

_“—oit have finally calmed down, the evacuation is officially announced to be over. The military has concluded that the deviants are not a threat and it will be safe for the city’s citizens to return home tomorrow and g—”_

Molly immediately changed the channel, not wanting to listen to any possible slander towards androids that could be said. The news always seemed to have a twist on events and words, forcing people to feel a certain way. The android would rather not hear any of it. She scrolled through a few more channels before stopping, the screen being filled with the picture of a deep blue sea and swimming fish. 

Molly gazed at the image, unconsciously scanning one of the fish that stuck out to her the most.

**[Mandarinfish]**

**[Synchiropus splendidus]**

**[Origin: Ryukyu Islands, Japan]**

She smiled at the television and watched the video, infatuated by the information being said by the narrator about different fish populations and the lands they came from. There was something breathtaking about the images being played before her of the aquatic nature.

The android watched the documentary until it ended, feeling better than before. She checked the time again.

**[9:00:43 A.M.]**

A documentary on reptiles came up next, and Molly’s interest fell short. She turned off the TV, hoping that Hank would wake up soon. Maybe she could do something nice for him? He was letting her stay in his house, after all. He must be waking up soon, so maybe she could make him breakfast?

Molly got up and walked into the kitchen. Cooking seemed interesting. It was definitely something she would have never had the chance to do without being a deviant. And perhaps it would be good for her to branch and try new things. She opened the fridge and was greeted by mostly empty space. There were a few drinks, frozen dinners, butter, strawberry jelly, and a few other spreads. There was also a carton of eggs, which Molly took out and opened to find one sad egg left. She put it back and closed the fridge, going over to the cabinets and opening them up. There still weren’t any good options, just things like alcohol, bread, chips, and a random bag of flour. Hank obviously didn’t cook for himself much, just going out to places like Chicken Feed, which Molly had already known for the most part.

There wasn’t really enough of anything to make a suitable breakfast and the RK800 wasn’t exactly programmed to make food, so she didn’t know what she could even make. She gave up and went back into the living room. She looked over at the bookcases again, cocking her head as she noticed just how much dust was collected on most of the surfaces. They probably hadn’t been cleaned in a long time. And if she couldn’t make food, then maybe she could clean instead.

Molly got a paper towel from the kitchen and wet it slightly before returning to the bookcase and carefully wiping down dust. Right when she started doing that, she heard a door open and footsteps broke the silence.

“Good morning, Lieu– _Hank_. Hank, Hank. Good morning, Hank,” Molly greeted Hank as he rounded the corner, correcting herself. He gave her a confused look as he rubbed his face.

“Yeah, morning.” Sumo walked up to his owner and Hank pet him on the head before the dog walked away and lay down in his usual spot. The human look at Molly and furrowed his eyebrows. “What are you doing?”

“Cleaning,” the android answered, as if emphasizing her answer by swiping down more dust.

“You don’t have to do that, y’know.” Molly stopped and looked over at Hank. “I mean, wasn’t that one of the reasons why you guys wanted to be free? So that you wouldn’t have to do domestic crap like this for humans anymore?”

Molly lifted the paper towel and folded it in on itself so that the dust was encased by the white material. “Yes, I suppose. But I, specifically, was not made to perform domestic tasks, so it does not bother me as much as it could other androids. Plus, I wanted to clean.”

“Oh, is my house that gross?” Hank asked amusedly, crookedly smiling and crossing his arms on his light gray, cotton shirt. Molly turned to him and raised her eyebrows, giving him a knowing look. He squinted his eyes at her. “Fuck you.”

The android laughed and shook her head. “I am just kidding… kind of.” The house was fairly messy. The kitchen had been cleaned for the most part, but the living room still had things scattered about on the floor and coffee table. Plus, like the bookshelves, most surfaces were dusty and who knows the last time the floors were cleaned? “But in all honesty, I… I did not know what to do with myself.”

“How long have you been awake for?” Molly checked the time.

**[9:11:36 A.M.]**

“An hour and fifty-seven minutes.”

“Oh, Jesus…” Hank sighed, rolling his eyes. “You could’ve just woken me up.”

“That would have been rude. I presumed that you would not like that.”

Hank snorted. “Well, yeah, but I’m sure it would’ve been better than just sitting around here doing nothing. Or cleaning.”

“I only began cleaning two minutes ago. Earlier, I washed Sumo and then I watched an interesting documentary on various species of fish. Did you know that catfish have over twenty-seven thousand taste buds? Humans only have around nine thousand.” Molly went back to wiping off one of the shelves.

“Nope, sounds cool.” Hank smiled, but then looked away a little, almost guiltily. “And thanks for cleaning Sumo, I know he was probably overdue for a bath or something but I just… never got around to it.”

Molly nodded. She had taken into it account before how Hank had been struggling with taking care of himself. She knew that it had been difficult for him. “I understand.” 

The paper towel was completely covered in dust, so Molly went to the kitchen and threw it away. She washed her hands, getting rid of any dust that could have gotten on them and making sure not to use the soap. Behind her, she heard Hank sigh.

“Alright, I guess this place _is_ kinda dirty, so whatever, I’ll let you make me do this this one time.” Molly turned around while still drying her hands, her eyes widening a little.

“Oh, no, you do not have to help me, Hank. Cleaning is the least I can do to repay you for letting me stay here.” Now, instead of being nice to him, she was just forcing him to do things he didn’t want to do, her plan backfiring immensely.

“Okay, first off, don’t say shit like that. You don’t owe me anything, seriously. It’s not that big a deal that you’re staying here. And second off, it’s my house and I’m not gonna let you do all the fucking work.” Molly knew that she didn’t really owe him anything, but it felt like she did. Without him letting her stay here, she didn’t know where she would have gone. Not to any of the homeless shelters, where an android would recognize her and possibly attack her, or at the very least remind her and make her feel ashamed of who she used to be. Not with Markus and the others, when a part of her still worried that she was a threat and would never trust herself to be around them when they weren’t conscious. Not back to her storage unit at CyberLife, since they would probably shut her down and just the thought of that company made her feel uncomfortable. 

It may not have seemed like a big deal to Hank since he didn’t know all the details—and Molly wasn’t going to be telling him them any time soon—but it was. She was thankful and it felt wrong to not repay the favor. But if he didn’t want her to do anything like that, then didn’t she owe it to him to listen?

“Alright,” Molly said, smiling. She threw away the paper towel she had used to dry her hands. “Well, I already began dusting the bookcases, but we could start somewhere else, if you want.”

“Nah, that’s fine, just lemme eat something first.” Hank walked over to the refrigerator as Molly tput her hands behind her back.

“Actually, I checked and you do not really have much to eat.”

“‘Checked?’” Hank questioned as he rummaged through the fridge.

“While I was trying to find things to do, I thought that I would make you something. Though, I could not find many ingredients.” And in retrospect, based off of what Hank said earlier about her not owing him anything, it seemed best that she wasn’t able to make anything.

“Yeah, I don’t really eat at home that much.” Hank closed the fridge and opened one of the cabinets, taking out the loaf of bread. “Guess I’ll have to go to the store later, since all the restaurants are closed.”

Molly nodded and got more paper towels, going back to to dusting the bookshelves. Hank turned on the TV, changing the channel from the news to the sports channel (thankfully), before putting two slices of bread into the toaster. The sportscaster was talking some football team and the android enjoyed the noise instead of silence.

“Oh shit,” Hank suddenly said after he placed a plate on the kitchen table. Molly quickly turned around. “I forgot to wash your clothes last night.”

“That is okay. They are my clothes, I can wash them.”

“No, no, it’s fine, I can do it.” Hank waved his hand, already moving towards the bathroom. “Just, uh, take the toast out when it dings and put it on the plate for me, will you?”

Molly nodded. “Got it.”

She crouched down and cleaned off the lower book cases that were full of DVD cases. They all seemed fairly interesting, full of mostly action and Disney movies. There was something intriguing about all of this, the books and DVDs and even the albums that Hank had in the other bookshelves. Something about people creating things for entertainment and amusement. She made a mental reminder to ask Hank later about reading some of the books he had. It seemed like a good place to start.

“Uh, hey,” Hank said as he came out of the bathroom, Molly’s clothes in his hands. “You still want this thing?” He motioned his left hand, which was holding her jacket.

Molly stood up and stared at the article of clothing.

_“We just thought that you wouldn’t wanna be wearing that anymore, since it, you know… labels you.”_

First Simon and the others, now Hank. Molly wasn’t too bothered by their comments, though, since she knew that they were right. Throwing away the jacket would be a good thing to do, wouldn’t it? CyberLife didn’t control her anymore. She was free. That jacket made it look like she still belonged to them, that she was still the machine that she once was. It would make sense for her to get rid of it.

But it was _her_ _jacket_ and she couldn’t get rid of it yet.

Molly looked up at Hank and nodded. He was looking to the right of her eyes, and she realized he was staring at her LED, which had flashed yellow for a second. He looked back at her and shrugged.

“Okay, I was just wondering.” He walked by her and went into the garage. Molly crouched back down, having to stop ten seconds later when the buzzer on the toaster went off. She hastily wiped her hands before taking out the pieces of toast and placing them on plate. She went back to the shelves and moved to the left side.

“Oh hey, I have question,” Hank said once he came back. He put a mug under the coffee machine and turned it on, waiting for the liquid to come out. Molly paused and turned towards him, a smile coming up on her face.

“Is it a _personal question_?” She asked, laughing slightly. She remembered all the times she would ask the man questions about himself during last week. He had definitely noticed how she asked him many of them, since at the Ambassador Bridge he had questioned her, “Do all androids ask so many personal questions, or is it just you?”

“Yeah, and I can ask as many as I fucking want since you asked me a million of them,” Hank answered jokingly, getting out the jelly and a butterknife. Molly laughed more. “Where were you staying before?”

“I had a storage unit at CyberLife.”

“A storage unit?” Hank questioned, grabbing his now full coffee cup and sitting down at the table. Molly nodded.

“Yes. A small, rectangular unit that was five inches longer than each of my dimensions.” She hadn’t stayed in it too much since a lot of cases had occurred in the middle of the night, and as such an advanced prototype, she could last a little longer without stasis than most androids.

“Fuck,” was all Hank said, mouth full of bread. “Sorry.”

“It is alright. I did not mind it.” Molly turned away and looked at the picture that Hank had up of his high school basketball team. “I mean, I would mind it _now_ , but it did not matter as much before.”

Nothing mattered to Molly that much before she was a deviant. All that had mattered was the mission.

It was weird to think of that life, when all Molly did was obey others and do as she was told. When she didn’t care about herself, whether it was her being uncomfortable or her getting hurt and dying. Nothing had mattered but the mission and it was painful to think of ever going back.

“Still, it wasn’t right.” Molly hummed in response and didn’t say anything else. The two fell silent as she continued dusting the bookcases and Hank quickly ate his breakfast, soon joining her. The man talking on the television filled in the silence as they cleaned.

“I did not know that you played sports,” Molly said, looking for spots on the bookcase that she may have missed as Hank got a trash bag. He came back and glanced at the basketball picture.

“Yeah, some of my friends made me join the team. I was pretty good at it, too, but I never cared about it that much.” He picked up some empty Chinese take-out boxes. “And some of those guys were assholes.”

“That sounds… fairly miserable.” Hank choked on a laugh.

“Eh. It was kinda fun.”

A few minutes later, Molly’s curiosity got the best of her and she pulled out one of the books before finishing up on the bookcases. It had a drawing of an adolescent boy on the cover, wearing a striped sweater, glasses, and donning a lighting bolt-shaped scar on his forehead. He was sitting on top of a broom and looked very disheveled. At bottom of the cover, where the author’s name would be, there was a long black mark covering it, and instead had the name “Daniel Radcliffe” written out in silver marker ink.

“Why did you cross out the name on this book?” Molly asked. Hank turned around from where he was near the fireplace and looked at the novel, an annoyed look appearing on his face.

“‘Cuz the person who wrote it is a fucking piece of shit.”

“Why not just throw the books away, then?” There were several more installments of the series next to where the android had pulled the book out from.

“I had already read the books and bought them before I found out. I still like them, just hate the person who wrote them.” Molly nodded in understanding and put the book back.

For the next two hours, the two cleaned in silence, except for Molly’s occasional questions and comments and Hank’s responses. All the surfaces was dusted and wiped down, and the floor was cleared and vacuumed (there was so much dog hair, Molly had become momentarily concerned). There was something nice about cleaning, despite the work. The satisfaction of seeing things cleaned and perfected, perhaps.

“Alright, I gotta take a fucking break,” Hank announced, throwing away the rest of the garbage he had collected and sitting down on the couch. Molly kept wiping down the kitchen counter. “C’mon, you, too.”

Molly stopped cleaning and turned around. “I am alright, I can keep going.”

“Molly, we’ve been cleaning the house for, like, two hours straight. You should take a break.” 

Molly shrugged and looked at the TV. It was playing a rerun of a basketball game from last week. “Really, I am fine. I find it much easier to keep busy than to sit and idle.”

Sure, she had watched that documentary this morning, but that was mostly because she had had nothing else to do. It was nice to keep herself productive, especially since cleaning wasn’t a very straining task.

Hank sighed and ran a hand through his hair before standing back up. “Okay, well, we can take a break by going to the store, then.” 

“Okay.” Molly threw away the paper towel she had been using.

“Just give me a minute, I need to change my clothes,” Hank said, walking to his room. Molly nodded and went over to Sumo as Hank closed his bedroom door behind himself. She crouched down and pet the dog as he slept.

“Hey, is it gonna be okay for you to go with me?” Hank asked from his room. “Just because, y’know, the revolution and all did just happen. People might still be a little uneasy about everything. Though, I don’t think it's gonna be that crowded or anything.”

Molly stopped petting Sumo and just sat down next to him. Hank had a point. It was extremely soon for people to already see her as something more than just a machine. Plus, some people’s opinions of androids may not have been changed by the uprising. There was a low probability of her being attacked for being an android, but a higher probability of her getting dirty looks and possibly being talked poorly to. 

She wasn’t going to wear any of her old clothes, even though the jacket would really be the only thing that showed she was an android. They had been washed and cleaned already, and put in the empty space of Hank’s closet, but the clothes she was wearing now were just so much more comfortable and soft. So, the only thing that would really show that she was an android was her LED.

“If you have a hat that I can borrow, then I can cover my LED.” Molly remembered her disguise from when she went to Jericho. She had worn a beanie to cover her face, but to also hide her LED since it had seemed that most deviants took them out to look more human. 

“Here,” Hank said once he opened his door. Molly got up and walked to his room. He had changed from his cotton shirt and gray sweatpants to one of his button-up shirts (a white one with various black patterns) and a pair of dark jeans. “You can wear this.”

He handed her a navy baseball cap with the small design of a police badge on it and the word “DPD.” She put it on and adjusted it, feeling it cover her LED. The feeling reminded her of walking into Jericho, looking around and seeing deviants full of fear and anger towards humans. She pushed away the thoughts and pulled the cap down a little bit more.

“Thank you,” Molly said. 

“No problem. You can change your clothes, too, if you want. Just come out when you’re ready.” Hank left the room, closing the door behind him. “And don’t look through my shit!” 

“Understood,” Molly said, smiling as she heard him mutter something about her “already fucking done that.” She walked up to the closet and opened where she had seen Hank pull out her clothes yesterday. There were three more cotton shirts, a pair of leggings, two pairs of jeans, another pair of sweatpants, and two sweaters. She took off the hat and set it on top of the drawers as she put on a light pair of jeans and a beige, knit wool sweater. She folded her other clothes and put them back in the drawers, since it wasn’t like she sweat or anything so they were still clean. She put the hat back on, put on her pair of socks, and left the room. 

Hank was standing by the front door and Molly joined him, slipping on her shoes. He grabbed his car keys and opened the door. “Let’s go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Molly and Hank go to the grocery store.
> 
> the next chapter is going to be a little shorter since i had to split them up, or else it'd be too long for my liking. it'll come out really soon!!
> 
> come and talk to me on tumblr about dbh, especially hank and connor and reed900: [@mollyinthewater](https://mollyinthewater.tumblr.com)


	9. Domesticity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Molly and Hank go to the grocery store.
> 
> song of the chapter: liquid lunch by caro emerald

A chiming noise was made as the motion-sensor doors of the grocery door slid open. Hank walked in first, Molly following and adjusting her hat some more as to make sure it covered her LED. It wasn’t like she was ashamed of being an android, but Hank was right. It is extremely early for humans to acknowledge androids as other people rather than just machines, and some might be a little upset over everything that recently happened. It was easier to not take the risk of people knowing that she was an android.

Hank grabbed a shopping cart as Molly put her hands behind her back, looking around. She had never been in a grocery store before, and there was certainly a lot to take in. Her sensors began scanning all of the food items in her line of sight and she overridded the commands, pausing her scanners and restraining herself from waving her hand in front of her face to get rid of the lines of text. The place was also fairly bright and quiet, some cheesy pop music softly playing over the speakers. She could hear four other sets of footsteps scattered across the store and saw two cashiers just standing around, looking at their computers.

Hank was right. There weren’t a lot of people out. Thanks to the evacuation, most people were either gone or staying inside, not having any work or school to go to and possibly afraid of the new world. Still, there was no harm in the precaution of Molly’s hat.

“So, what are you going to get?” Molly asked, walking to the left of Hank and looking around at the fully stocked shelves. Apparently, the evacuation was so sudden, people hadn't really been given the chance to hoard anything.

“Uh, some frozen stuff and a few more things to drink, I guess,” Hank answered, turning down an aisle of refrigerated items. Molly thought back to the frozen dinners she had seen in the man’s fridge. They had contained high levels of sodium and cholesterol.

“Hank, those frozen meals are not very suitable for your health.” Hank opened one of the freezer doors and Molly felt the chill of cool air escape from the inside. He scoffed playfully and turned to her.

“Oh, so first you’re ragging on me about my house and now my health?” He asked. 

“I am just saying that there must be better things for you to be eating.” Molly pushed the door closed and smiled, remembering the book of recipes in Hank’s bookcase. “I saw that you have a cookbook.”

“Just some shitty Christmas present from a few years ago. I never used it.” 

“Well, _I_ could use it. Cooking seems intriguing. And I am sure that I could make you something much better than…” Molly looked at the packaged meals on the other side of the doors. Like the one’s Hank had in his house, they were not very healthy. “That.”

“Kid, I appreciate the offer, but I don’t need you making my food for me.” Hank reopened the door and Molly closed it again. She was not just going to stand by and watch him ruin his health for no reason.

“Allow me to phrase it like this: I want to try cooking and you could be my test subject.”

Hank quirked an eyebrow at her. “You make it sound like you could poison me.”

She innocently smiled at him. “I promise that I will not poison you.”

“Oh wow, don’t I feel safe,” Hank sarcastically said. Molly giggled and looked away for a moment.

“I suppose that Sumo can be my test subject instead.”

“What? Hell no, you’re not cooking meals for my dog.”

“Then you will have to do.”

“No, I wasn’t–” Hank cut himself off and looked into Molly’s silently pleading eyes. He groaned and rolled his eyes. “Ugh, _fine_. Just don’t make a mess of my kitchen, huh?”

“Understood,” Molly said, smile widening. “But really, cooking cannot be _that_ difficult. You just have to follow a simple set of instructions.”

“And yet, people still burn their houses down.” Hank started walking away and Molly followed, pulling up the recipe book she had seen at the house and scanning the available recipes.

“So, what would you like?” Molly asked. They walked by someone and Molly reflexively pulled down on her cap. The man didn’t even bother looking in their direction.

“Uh, I dunno. Probably be best for you to start with something simple. Like… pasta?” Molly brought up the possible pasta recipes in the cookbook.

“There are many variations of pasta. Spaghetti, bolognese, carbonara…” Hank glanced at her and squinted his eyes.

“Are you looking up recipes in your head?”

“Well, I am looking at the recipes in the cookbook you have, but technically, yes.” They turned down an aisle full of beverage options. Hank’s eyes widened a little as he huffed softly.

“Fuck, wish I could do that." Hank stopped walking and grabbed a case of bottled water, placing it in the cart.

“How about… rigatoni?” That one seemed not too basic, but simple enough. And the recipe being offered seemed fairly healthy, or at least better than the frozen dinners that Hank would have eaten instead. Hank smiled and shrugged, walking over to shelves full of cases of soda.

“Sure, sounds good.” He went to grab for a pack of pineapple soda, and just as he did that, a loud crash of metal hitting the ground resounded throughout the store. Hank flinched slightly and turned his head towards the noise, before letting out a breath and turning his attention back to the drinks. “Jesus…”

Molly, on the other hand, flinched sharply (for the first time in her life) and gasped silently, whipping towards the noise. A muting pain washed over her ears and head as her hands released each other and were brought to her sides. Somebody probably just knocked over a can or something. It was fine, everything was fine. It hadn’t even been that loud, reaching only seventy-eight decibels. But for some reason, it did seem loud and her head felt _weird_ , so she shook it a little and ran a quick diagnostic.

**[Running diagnostic…]**

**[All systems fully operational]**

What? She had expected her auditory sensors to be functioning incorrectly. If nothing was malfunctioning, then why was she feeling so strange?

“Molly?” The android turned back towards Hank, who had put a pack of the soda into the cart and was looking at her with his eyebrows furrowed and seeming almost concerned. “You good?”

Molly blinked a few times before nodding. “Yes. Yes, yes, I am fine. That noise was just… unexpected. And _loud_. Very loud.”

Her fingers twitched and she took out her coin from the jean pocket, thankful that she had taken the coin out of the sweatpants and put it into the jeans before she had left. She rolled it on her knuckles, the action somehow relieving some of her weird feelings.

Hank looked at her for a couple more seconds, clearly thinking about something. Molly steered away from his gaze and watched her quarter flip between her fingers.

“Uh… okay,” Hank said, leaning slightly against the cart as a lop-sided grin came up on his face. “Some things never change, huh?”

Molly looked up at him, not making eye contact but letting him know that she was listening. “Hm?”

Hank nodded his head, gesturing towards her busy hand. “You and that coin. Where’d you learn how to do that, anyway?”

“I…” Molly thought back to her first mission. On the way there, she had discovered the coin in her pocket. She didn’t know where it had come from, but she had taken it out and began playing around with it. In the elevator of the building where the situation was occurring, she had already perfected multiple tricks with it. “I taught myself.”

“Hm. Sure you weren’t a deviant sooner?” Molly cocked her head at him and he shrugged. “Just seems like a pretty human thing to do, even though I don’t think a human can do half the tricks you can, and you’ve messed around with that coin the whole time I’ve known you. Why do you even do it?”

Molly put her coin in her other hand and continued rolling it on her fingers. “It is a calibration exercise. Something to help my cognitive and physical functions stay sharp.” 

Hank softly laughed. “Yeah, or you just like doing it.”

A small smile returned on Molly’s face and she put the coin away, feeling better. “That, too.”

The two continued shopping, getting the ingredients for the pasta and some more basic ingredients for possible future recipes, along with items Hank could use to make sandwiches (Molly knew that he frequented Chicken Feed during his lunch breaks at work, so it would be good for him to maybe _not_ go there everyday). After eight minutes of filling up the shopping cart, they had basically gotten everything that was necessary. They were going down an aisle of hygienic necessities when Hank paused.

“Hey, pick some,” he said, pointing to the items in front of him. There were shelves of brands of toothpastes and toothbrushes. Molly looked at Hank bemusedly.

“What?”

“Some toothpaste and a toothbrush,” Hank answered. Molly blinked twice, smiling uncertainly.

“Hank, you _do_ know that androids cannot eat, right?” Surely, he was aware of that fact, or else he would have mentioned something sooner. Hank squinted his eyes at her.

“Yeah, but I _do_ know that you’re a weird android that likes to put gross shit in her mouth. I know that you would’ve tasted Sumo’s slobber yesterday if I hadn’t said anything. And once we go back to work, it’s just gonna get worse.”

Molly froze, knitting her eyebrows together. “‘We?’”

“Yeah, I mean…” Hank glanced at the items on the shelves, putting his hands in his coat pockets. “Sorry, I just thought that you’d wanna go back. To working with the police and all.”

Molly turned her head down a bit, staring at the ground. She hadn’t thought about her plans for the future. Surprisingly, she had just been thinking of what was happening in the now, for the most part. She hadn’t even bothered to think of the possibility of going back to the life of a detective, or any career at all.

“Do you?” Hank asked. Molly’s LED spun yellow as she thought. Most androids seemed to dislike their previous lifestyles, wanting to change what they did for a living. They had felt forced to do something that they had never wanted in the first place. And it wasn’t like most androids had been given the best jobs, like construction workers and janitors and _especially_ Tracis. 

But being a detective was different than those careers. It was interesting and exciting, and even though she had never felt anything during the investigations, looking back, Molly enjoyed the thought of solving crimes and chasing suspects. Yes, she had been programmed to be a detective and she didn’t have to go back, but… she wanted to. She _liked_ working with the police. She liked working with Hank.

Molly looked up at Hank and smiled. “Yes.”

“Then when I go back, we’ll talk to Fowler about it,” Hank said, smiling back and giving her a pat on the shoulder. “Now, just choose the stuff you want and we can leave.”

“It really is unnecessary for me to get any of this. I have a saline solution in my mouth that cleans it after I analyze substances.”

“Okay, and where does it go?”

“The solution?” Molly had never thought this much about the processes that occurred in her mouth. “It dissolves the materials and gets repurposed.”

“So it doesn’t leave your mouth?”

Molly looked away, her eyes flickering in thought. Hank _did_ have a point, it seemed.

“See?” Hank questioned, knowing that he was right. “Now c’mon, just pick something and then we can go.”

“Alright,” Molly conceded, laughing slightly. She quickly chose some plain, white toothpaste and a purple, manual toothbrush, putting them into the cart.

“Thank you,” Hank said. Molly scoffed lightly and shook her head, the smile never leaving her face. 

* * *

Molly opened one of the kitchen cabinets, putting away a box of noodles and no longer wearing the baseball cap. Hank was doing the same with a new carton of eggs, unloading the groceries that they had bought.

The android opened another cabinet to put away a bag of sugar and paused. She placed the bag on the counter and stared. She had accidentally opened the cupboard with Hank’s alcohol.

It wasn’t like he had that much. Three bottles of whiskey, one nearly empty, and three cases of beer, excluding the bottles already in the fridge. She knew that he didn’t always drink at home, going to places like Jimmy’s bar. 

Molly knew that it wasn’t really her place, but… she had to say something. She knew she did. She remembered the man she had found on the kitchen floor, too drunk to stand and playing that stupid game with his life. She remembered the man who had pointed a gun at her head and nearly shot her in all his drunken stupor.

She wasn’t afraid _of_ Hank. She was afraid _for_ him. She didn’t want him risking his life again, doing something that he would regret. 

“Oh my god,” Hank groaned out. Molly turned and looked at him. He had obviously put together her silence and the open cabinet, knowing what she was planning. “Are you… about to lecture me?”

Molly opened her mouth to say something but closed it, still trying to think of what to say without being rude. She didn't want to offend him in any way. Hank’s face fell, his expression becoming a little annoyed. He sighed.

“Look, Molly, I already know what you’re gonna say and–”

“No, wait, just…” Molly took a breath and looked back at the cabinet before glancing at the counter and looking back at Hank, who kept silent. He was going to let her try to talk to him and she couldn’t mess this up. Her eyes flickered between him and the countertop. “I… I am living with you now. And even if I was not, I would still like to say that… that I think that we are friends.”

Hank snorted, some softness being regained on his face. “Well, yeah, of course we’re friends. Wouldn’t be letting you stay here if we weren’t.”

Molly smiled brightly, feeling more confident. “I do not have much experience with… having friends, but I do know that they help each other. So, as your friend, I would like to help you.”

“You sound like a weird shrink.”

Molly laughed and looked at the open cabinet. Had it always contained alcohol, or was it only filled with the liquids three years ago? And had there been more, or did Hank really frequent bars that much? “Then maybe you will listen to me when I say that… you should get rid of some of it. If you want. Of course, I am not telling what to do, it is merely a suggestion. One that you should only follow if you are comfortable with it and–”

“I get it, I get it. No pressure, whatever.” Hank interrupted her. She nodded and he sighed again, looking at the cabinet, too. He didn't look ashamed, per se, but she could tell that he wasn't very comfortable having this conversation. But it was necessary. She couldn't not say anything. “It’s just… it’s not _that_ easy, y’know?”

“I know.” Molly’s voice become much more gentle. “If it would help, you could consult a professional.”

“Yeah, no, fuck that. Not into the whole therapist thing.”

“Then you have me.” Hank furrowed his eyebrows at her, looking bewildered.

“To be my therapist?”

“To help you. Not drinking… as much as you normally do would be very beneficial for your health, both physical and mental.” Drinking so much was most likely very damaging to his body. Like he had said at the bridge, he was slowly killing himself everyday by drinking. And it wasn’t a good coping mechanism, only making his suffering worse. A serious expression came up on Molly’s face. “I am only trying to help you, Hank. I am your friend and I care about you.”

“Jeez, don’t be getting all sappy with me.” He walked right up to her and lightly cuffed her on the shoulder. She smiled up at him, hoping that he would take her advice. He looked at the bottles in the cabinet. “Fuck. Okay… fuck, I _know_ you’re right, okay?” 

Molly’s smile brightened. She had won him over. 

“Fucking hell, I can’t believe I’m doing this,” he muttered, reaching for one of the bottles of whiskey. He put all three of them on the counter and ran a hand through his hair. “I’ll get rid of these ones, alright? But the rest stays.”

“That is great. I am very proud of you,” Molly said, lightly placing a hand on his shoulder. He laughed as he opened the nearly empty bottle of whiskey.

“Oh my god, don’t talk like that. You sound like my fucking mom.” Molly laughed, too. Hank brought the bottle over the sink, hesitating for a split second and muttering another “fuck” before pouring it out. The smell of whiskey heavily filled the air as they watched the alcohol stream down into the drain.

* * *

“Can I organize your records?” Molly asked, her eyes shifting between the vinyl records in the short bookcases and the television. They had finished unloading the groceries and cleaning the rest of the house earlier. Finally, Hank had convinced her that it was “okay to just do nothing for a while,” so they had been sitting on the couch in a comfortable silence while watching a Detroit Gears game from last week. Hank was drinking a beer as Molly pet Sumo for a moment before he walked over to his food bowl.

“What?” Hank questioned, looking at her.

“They are just… all unorganized and not in any particular order.” For some reason, it was nearly bothersome to see the records in such an unsystematic way. Basketball was pretty interesting to her and was able to keep her attention since it felt like it was so fast-paced, but the thought that the records were just _wrong_ would not leave her head. 

“Yeah, I guess.” Hank shrugged, putting down the bottle of alcohol and turning down the TV. He stood up and went over to the records, sitting down on the ground. Molly joined him and watched as he scanned the vinyl records.

“You said you’ve never really listened to music, right?” Hank asked, picking out one of the albums and looking at the back of it. Molly knew what he must have been talking about, when she had told him at the police station last week that she did not listen to music in the way that humans did, but she would like to. She had listened to heavy metal when she had been in Hank’s car yesterday and today, but she hadn’t really been paying attention to it.

Molly nodded her head and looked at the record in Hank’s hands. On the cover was a woman sitting down and looking right at the camera, wearing a red dress and a large black hat. She was very attractive. Hank took out the vinyl and put it onto the record player, pressing a button and then placing the needle on it.

Molly’s eyebrows raised as the sound of drums and a guitar being played filled the air, along with people speaking. After fourteen seconds, a woman began singing, her voice silky and sweet. Molly sat up a little straighter as Hank pulled out the other albums in the shelves, placing them on the ground between the two. Molly helped, absentmindedly putting the records onto the ground as she listened.

“So? What do you think?” Hank asked once they had all the records out. Molly knitted her eyebrows together at him. “Of the song. This is one of the first albums I ever bought, so I thought it’d be good for your first time ever listening to music.”

“Oh.” Molly stared at the record spinning. There was something nice about how all the notes sounded right with each other, and the singing lady’s voice was soothing. Molly smiled and looked back at Hank. “I like it.”

Hank smiled back. “Good, ‘cuz if you didn’t, I would’ve been offended.”

Molly laughed and they began sorting the records, putting them in to stacks based on alphabetical and chronological order. They were nearly three-quarters done when Sumo came back, walking behind Molly. She turned and pet him on the back as he walked by. When she turned back around, she noticed that one of the records at the bottom of one of the stacks was slipping out. Without thinking, her hand jumped out to push it back, but she moved too fast, hitting the stack of records and causing it and another one to fall over.

Molly gasped and froze, looking at the fallen albums. They had been so perfect a second ago, and now they were out of order again and _wrong_ . The image hurt and she couldn’t bring herself to fix it immediately, stuck on the fact that they were _messed up_.

“Hey, hey, it’s alright,” Hank said, grabbing the fallen albums and fixing them. He began placing them back the way they were and Molly snapped out of her daze, helping him. It only took a few moments for them to go back the way they had been. “See? All good.”

Molly nodded, tapping her fingers against the ground in sync with the current song playing. She didn’t know why that had made her feel so bad, and she felt tempted to run a diagnostic for the second time today, but seeing the records back in order made her feel better, so she decided not to.

“Uh, how about you go and start making that rig… whatever.”

“Rigatoni,” Molly corrected him. He rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, that. I’ll finish up here.” Molly nodded and stood up, going into the kitchen. She pulled up the recipe in her head and got out everything she needed. After thirty-two minutes, the rigatoni was done and she put it on a plate. As strange as it sounded, cooking the pasta had been enjoyable because it was her just following instructions. It was straightforward and, in a way, familar.

“I am done,” Molly said. Hank stood up off the ground, having finally finished organizing the records, and came over to the kitchen table, sitting down.

“Looks good. Thanks,” Hank said, smiling. Molly smiled back, putting her arms behind her back and leaning against the counter that was already cleaned.

“You are welcome. Cooking is certainly something that I would like to do again.” It was something different than anything she had ever done before, and she liked that part, too. Hank took a bite and then pointed at her with the fork in his hand.

“You are such a housewife.” Molly laughed. She somewhat was, and it was nice to have that sort of domesticity after everything that had happened. 

“So?” Molly asked. “How is it?”

“It’s good. Not bad for first time cooking,” Hank said, taking another bite. “First time I tried making something, I fucking burned the thing. Can’t even remember what it was.”

Molly laughed at the thought, standing up straighter. “Well, thank you. You will have to try cooking with me some time, then. Like I said, it is not that difficult.”

“Yeah, for you, but I’m pretty sure that you’re good at everything, so you can’t say shit.” The android smiled brightly. She _was_ the most advanced android to ever be created, but it wasn’t like she accomplished everything with ease. Still, the compliment was nice. “Hey, did you try any of it?”

Molly shook her head. “Like I mentioned earlier, Hank, androids cannot eat.”

“Well, yeah, but you can analyze stuff in your mouth, right? Doesn’t that mean you can taste?”

“I…” She hadn’t thought about that. She had never tasted anything that she had analyzed during their investigations, but being a deviant changed a lot about how she processed information. “I am not sure. With my newfound deviancy, the sensors in my mouth could have accumulated to become more human-like. Let me see.”

She got out another fork from a drawer and swiftly stabbed at a noodle on Hank’s plate, putting it into her mouth for a couple seconds.

“Well?” Molly turned around and put the fork in the sink before grabbing a paper towel and spitting the noodle into it, throwing it away. “Ew, Molly, _gross_. Does it taste bad or something?”

Molly turned back towards Hank and shook her head again. “No. But like I said, androids were not made to eat food. Though I was designed differently to analyze substances, I can only intake four ounces of liquids every twenty-four hours. If I digested any solids, they could clog up my systems.”

“Oh.” Molly quickly washed the fork. “Well, did you taste it?”

The android dried her hands and went back to the standing position she had been in before. She looked at the information that had appeared when she had put the food in her mouth and began reading off the text. “Semolina wheat, durum wheat flour, vitamin B3 niacin, iron ferro–”

“No, no,” Hank cut her off, waving a hand. “Did you _taste_ it?”

Molly swirled her tongue around her mouth and squinted her eyes, looking at nothing in particular. It was hard to pick out, but if she looked at how humans tasted food, then she was able to detect… something sweet and savory. She couldn’t really tell where the possible flavors were coming from though when it came to the elements of the dish.

“I… I think so.”

“And?”

“It… is not bad?”

“Wow, pretty hard on yourself, kid.” Molly breathed out a laugh, a small smile appearing on her face. The music was still playing, the album almost completed, and she focused on it as she thought about the taste.

“I have no foundation when it comes to whether or not something tastes good. Though, it did not _actually_ make me want to spit it out.”

“So it didn’t make you wanna puke?” Hank smiled crookedly. “That’s a good thing, I guess.”

It was definitely strange to have something other than a type of liquid in her mouth. The sensation had been completely unfamiliar and almost heavy.

“Eating is weird,” Molly stated. Hank barked out a laugh.

“Yeah, so is every other fucking thing humans do.” Molly’s smile grew and she looked away, her gaze landing on the bookshelves. A reminder popped up in front of her eyes.

“Would you mind if I read some of your books?” She asked, nodding her head toward the bookcases behind the couch. Hank glanced over at them.

“You don’t have to ask. It’s not like they’re getting much use out of me,” Hank said before continuing to eat.

“Thank you,” Molly said. Hank nodded as she scanned the books, wondering which one she would read first. The non-fiction ones appealed to her more, but since she was doing so many different things lately, maybe she would read a fiction one first?

“Uh, hey.” Molly looked back at Hank. “Do you wanna watch a movie or something when I’m done?”

“A movie?”

“Yeah.” Hank shrugged. “I have a bunch that I haven’t seen in a while. Plus, I think it’d been good to culture you.”

Molly laughed. Watching a movie _did_ sound interesting. And like she had thought, it was nice to be trying so many new things.

“Sure. Any one in particular?”

“Yeah,” Hank said, smiling as a mischievous glint appearing his eyes. “RoboCop.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> RoboCop was a strange movie, but Molly had fun watching it with Hank.
> 
> come and talk to me on tumblr about dbh, especially hank and connor and reed900: [@mollyinthewater](https://mollyinthewater.tumblr.com)


	10. Conflict

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hank has a rough night.
> 
> song of the chapter: oh ana by mother mother

Waking up in the middle of the night was not fun. But waking up in the middle of the night because of a nightmare? Yeah, that was a different kind of hell. It wasn’t just having trouble sleeping or waking up because of a noise. It was pain that stirred strong emotions that were kept buried at the bottom of your heart.

Especially when the nightmare that woke you up was about memories that you did _not_ want to be fucking remind of.

Hank shot up in his bed, heart beating like crazy and sweat covering his body. Beads of the liquid rolled down his face and he furiously wiped them away with the back of his hand. He shoved the bed covers off of him, even though it was the beginning of fucking winter in Detroit and cold as hell (or Alaska or some shit like that). But he was hot, uncomfortably so, and it fucking _sucked_.

He turned on the bedside lamp, the darkness of the night allowing his imagination to run wild and show the images of his dream as if he was still stuck in it. The simpleness of driving on the street, stark white snow falling from the sky, his son in the back seat falling asleep, when suddenly a screeching noise tears through the atmosphere and Hank doesn’t even have time to turn and see the truck skid into his car, and his son, his fucking son, _his six year-old fucking son—_

Fuck. He needed to breathe. And have a drink. Badly.

Breathing came first, though, because his heart didn’t sound like it was slowing down at all and he’d rather not have a heart attack, thank you very much. Deep breaths, in through his nose, out through his mouth, stuttering slightly but pushing through the hiccups. 

“Fuck me,” Hank muttered under his breath, swinging his legs over the side of the bed once he thought he wasn’t about to go into cardiac arrest. He stood up and that was when the cold hit him, any sweat left on his body becoming a way to further worsen the chilly air. He put a pair of navy sweatpants on over his boxers before pulling on his worn DPD sweatshirt over his undershirt. That felt a little better, though it didn’t stop the stupid fucking tremors that were still running through his body.

Drink. Right. He needed a drink.

Hank opened his bedroom door and left the room, barely able to see where he was going. He walked into the main living area and nearly jumped out of his fucking skin at the sight of a blue light softly illuminating the room. 

Oh, right. He had an android living on his couch.

Jesus. An _android._ That was crazy for him to think about. Just a week ago, he thought that all androids were pieces of plastic that deserved to be thrown away. They were stupid fucking inventions that weren’t as goddamn perfect as they seemed, especially since one had taken away his fucking son. At least, that was what he had thought.

But then Molly came along and basically said, “Fuck you” to every opinion he had formed about androids.

That night at Jimmy’s bar when they had first met had been like any other night. Drinking away his sorrows, brooding in misery, ignoring whatever case he had been assigned because fuck work. And then Molly had approached Hank and his first thought was about how her voice was so high and fucking annoying. Then he looked at her and wondered why the _fuck_ CyberLife had made some tin can look like a fucking teenage girl, especially one that was going to be working with the damn police. It was like some weird, sick fucking joke.

But she was insistent and bought him a drink and he knew that he would have to get to the crime scene soon enough. It was creepy how much she had smiled like she actually felt something and irritating how she just went against his instructions and disgusting how she would put fucking blood in her mouth like it was nothing and nearly outright _scary_ how she had interrogated that abused android and gotten a confession out of him with ease.

Hank thought that that would be it. That he would never have to see the RK800 again. And then she showed up at work the next day and Fowler told him that they would be fucking partners. Lieutenant Hank Anderson being partnered with a fucking android, one that looked like some fucking little girl. Another stupid joke.

The guys at CyberLife had definitely tried to make sure that Molly was likeable because she was so fucking nice, always smiling and trying to be friends with Hank and apologizing when she did something wrong. He refused to fall for it. She was just another machine. She didn’t actually feel happy or want to befriend Hank. She was programmed to be like that. 

But then she saved his life on the roof of that urban farm instead of chasing that deviant and for the first time in the two days they had known each other, he hadn’t been angry with or annoyed by her. In fact, he nearly fucking thanked her, even though he knew that she had done it just to make him like her more. Or something like that, he didn’t fucking know.

But he did know that she had succeeded in the tiniest bit.

Then Molly had broken into his fucking house, being the annoying shit she was going on about how she needed him to accomplish her mission. Surprisingly, her dragging him to the bathroom and sobering him up with the frigid water from the shower was not one of his proudest moments. But at the time, he didn’t care that much about his dignity. He just wanted to be left alone with his dog and his whiskey and his fucking gun.

Of course, the android was as adamant as always and he agreed to go, nearly thanking her once again when she had weirdly cleaned his house and ready to tell her that she couldn’t drive because she was nearly too _young_ . And then they went to a goddamn android sex club and he nearly felt awkward to be there with a teenage girl, looking at some dead naked guy and walking around half-naked androids, some of which were fucking _pole dancing_. Hank blamed it on all the alcohol, though. Either way, Eden Clubs had always grossed him out, and going to the back room and seeing all those androids just standing idly or broken, waiting to be fixed, made him feel sick, and not just because of all the whiskey.

Molly had told him at Chicken Feed that deviants did not really feel emotions, they just thought they did. And Hank had believed her, because of course androids couldn’t feel. They were fucking machines.

But those two Tracis… fighting together for one another. It was like something he had never seen before. And seeing Molly point a gun at one of them and _not_ pull the trigger was also something different because she was a machine that always went on about how she would do anything to accomplish her mission. And she had _hesitated._

And then seeing that blue-haired girl crying, which Hank didn’t even know androids could do because they weren’t _supposed to feel_ , and hearing her talk about what had happened. How horrible she was treated by humans and how much she was in love with the other girl.

It made something in Hank change.

And it was fucking confusing. Confusing enough that he had needed to get even more drunk and go to that stupid fucking bridge. Androids didn’t feel, they couldn’t, but witnessing those girls holding hands and Molly fucking hesitating… it was breaking him. He didn’t know what to believe anymore. He was angry, angry because of the whiskey and the beers, angry because maybe androids did actually fucking feel, angry because his son was fucking dead. He took that anger out on Molly without meaning to, yelling at her and pulling out his revolver, threatening to do what she hadn’t been able to with the Traci.

Hank didn’t shoot, thank fucking god—if he had, he didn’t know if Molly would even trust him and be willing to live with him, willing to look at him like the way she always did, and it would have been another thing to add to his list of fuck-ups. He had just retreated back to his car and drank some more until driving away and going home, leaving the android standing in the cold.

The next morning, he had had a hell of a hangover, and yet managed to go to the Stratford Tower, meeting up with the person that he had aimed a gun at last night. He had thought it would be awkward or that Molly would make some fucking comment about it, about any of it, but she had kept her mouth shut and just acted like nothing had happened—and that had made Hank feel even worse, even though it wasn’t like he had actually felt bad in the first place. 

He didn’t know how he felt about androids, or deviants or whatever, at that point. The whole heist had been pretty fucking impressive to him, though. And then he was impressed again when Molly had run into the hall he was in, looking disheveled for once in her existence with her shirt ripped open and blue blood drenching her torso, before grabbing a gun off some FBI guy with reflexes faster than Hank could blink and shooting the deviant that had been ready to just start spraying bullets in the room.

He hadn’t even thought that Molly _could_ kill at that point, since she hadn’t shot the Eden Club girl. But four gunshots had rung out, hitting the other android with scary precision, and it was almost a terrifying thing to see. Some sixteen year-old girl, bleeding out of her stomach and shooting a gun like it was nothing. And yet, all Hank could think about once the shock had gone away was how she had shot the deviant to save lives, to save _his_ life.

That was why she hadn’t shot the Traci. Because there had been no reason to. But she hadn’t even thought twice about pulling the trigger when it came to a matter of life or death.

And Hank’s perspective of androids finally collapsed when he and Molly had gone to Kamski’s.

That guy was a sick fuck, having all those doubles of the same girl just hanging around his house and then trying to make Molly fucking kill one of them. Hank still hadn’t been sure if she would do it or not, but he had been sure that pulling the trigger was the wrong thing to do—and he had fucking hoped that Molly had known that that, too. So he had tried to get her to leave while Kamski had tried to get her to fucking shoot the innocent android.

And he had never, _never_ seen Molly look the way she did in that moment. No stupid smile on her face, no blue mood ring, no determination or focus in her eyes. Instead, he saw a flashing, crimson LED on the temple of a girl who looked conflicted as all hell, eyebrows knitting together and green eyes unmoving but clouded with doubt. Hank didn’t know that Molly could make a face like that, one that wasn’t happy or concentrated or just fucking blank.

If he hadn’t known any better, she had looked _upset._ And it had only gotten worse when she handed the gun back to Mr. Creepy Perfect Billionaire. Hank had never heard her talk so defensively, and he had especially never heard her repeat herself for no reason or fucking _stutter_. Kamski was just fucking with her at that point and Hank had seen enough, saving Molly from having to listen to any more of the younger man’s shit.

When they had gotten into the car, Molly had yet to cease surprising Hank, because she didn’t say one word after he hadn’t been able to prevent himself from being nice to her and smiling like he was almost proud of her in a way. She didn’t even fucking move an inch, not playing with that stupid coin or tapping her fingers or even shifting her eyes for that matter. 

There had been a thought in the back of Hank’s head that maybe, just maybe that asshole had been right. Maybe Molly was a deviant. And then there was an even deeper thought in the back of his head that maybe he would be okay with that.

Seeing her like that, he knew that they couldn’t go back to the precinct. Not yet. So he had made up some shit excuse and brought her back to his house, hearing her ask why they were there and restraining himself from openly reacting to how fucking young she really sounded in the moment, like some scared little kid. He had made her come inside, and while he was eating, she had just sat down on the ground and fucking hugged Sumo—like he did some nights when he felt the loneliest—and that was crazy to see because he hadn’t thought that Molly even knew what a hug was.

And she just fucking sat there. For twenty minutes, not even twitching, and Sumo, being the good dog he is, didn’t try to get away. Then finally, once Hank had finished eaten some Chinese food from the other night, she had pulled back from the dog.

And she looked fucking _terrified._

Hank could barely believe what he was seeing. She looked so afraid, yet at the same time so fucking empty. She still wasn’t fidgeting like usual, sitting up straight with her legs crossed and staring off into space. And for some reason, seeing Molly look like that… 

It had made something in Hank snap. He couldn’t help himself from going over to her and asking her if she was okay, and she had looked like she was having some kind of breakdown and keeping it all inside. And apparently he had always been such an asshole to her, she thought that he was being worried about his _dog._ And then there was the way she could barely even make herself look up at him, not even being able to make eye contact when she had done it a million times before, and repeating herself again for no reason, and looking like she was holding back from doing something—what, Hank didn’t know—and not breathing when he had noticed that she had started doing that lately.

He couldn’t help it. He just couldn’t. She was just a fucking kid. And even if she hadn’t realized it yet, Hank knew that it was over. She was going to deviate one way or another if she hadn’t yet, and he just had to comfort her in some way instead of just letting her cope with whatever kind of panic attack it was that she was going through by herself.

And the same thing had happened again when they had gone back to the precinct and Molly was practically begging Hank to help her. She had looked scared once again, scared of failing and dying— _“Are you afraid to die?”_ Hank had asked her at the bridge, and the answer was fucking _yes_ , she was. Hank had just wanted her to deviate already, and he thought that maybe, finding the deviants and being surrounded by them, there would be a chance that someone would fucking help her. So he punched Perkins and risked his job, because at that point he didn’t care that much if he was fired, and if that meant that Molly wouldn’t be fucking shut down, then it was worth it.

Then a goddamn carbon copy of Molly had shown up at Hank’s front door, asking for help infiltrating Jericho and acting too happy and too carefree, like she had when they had first met, and he knew that something was off. Then he was being taken hostage, and the only upside was that he had found out that the kid had fucking done it, that she had deviated like he knew she would and she was actually helping the deviants instead of hunting them. 

The other upside had been how Molly had been willing to risk everything, the revolution and herself, in order to save Hank, when the whole time he had been a jerk to her, yelling at her and treating her horribly— _"_ _It has developed an attachment to you,"_ the other Molly had said, and if he hadn’t been being held at gunpoint, he would’ve fucking smiled. Of course, in the end, _he_ had been the one to save _her_ life, and he nearly—no, he had, he really fucking had—felt proud when he saw her deviate those other androids, going against her stupid fucking programming and helping other androids do the same.

Molly was alive. She felt fear and cared about other people and didn’t want to die. She was as human as Hank.

Though he wouldn’t have admitted it, the next day he was fucking worried about her. He had hoped that she would be safe once he left the CyberLife tower, and catching a glimpse of her on TV behind Markus as he gave a speech had been one of the biggest reliefs of his life. He knew that she would probably be busy, so he waited until almost the end of the day to text her, even though he had wanted to the next morning. He hadn’t even had any whiskey or anything that day because he wanted to be fucking sober when he saw her again.

And when he did, meeting up with her at Chicken Feed and seeing her in one piece, he couldn’t help but reach out and pull the kid into a fucking hug. She was there, she was _alive_. 

Hank didn’t know why Molly hadn’t wanted to stay with the other androids, and he almost asked her, but wasn’t sure if it was any of his business or not, so he had decided to just be straightforward and offer for her to stay with him. Sure, he hadn’t been lying when he had told her that Sumo would’ve liked to see her again, but he hadn’t told her the complete truth of how it would be nice to not being living fucking alone anymore, only having his poor dog to talk to. Plus, Molly was just a teenager. He knew that she was capable of taking care of herself, but she was still just a kid who needed a fucking home. So, why not his?

He wouldn’t have admitted this either, but he had developed an attachment to her, too.

So she moved in. Saturday morning had been pretty awkward, because fucking _duh._ Molly was literally living a completely different life, and she had moved in with Hank, who was not immediately used to living with another person again. And their relationship was pretty weird, but it had gotten kinda better after they had gone to the store. It was strange to have someone actually caring about him, like how she worried about his fucking health and gave him that whole talk about drinking less—when she had said so nervously that she thought that they were friends, he had felt a part of himself go weak and he let her talk him into getting rid of the whiskey. But she had stupid fucking puppy dog eyes, so he let her make him dinner and he poured out all the Black Lamb alcohol. And then he made her fucking relax for once, and it was weird to think that maybe she liked basketball because she had been very focused on it, but that may have been her still trying to be productive in some stupid way. She would get better at it, he knew she would. She already had improved when they had watched "Robocop" together, even though she would ask a bunch of questions that Hank didn’t know the answer to and point out inconsistencies or inaccurate things. Still, it seemed like she had had a good time, and he had, too.

Sunday and Monday had been better, too. She had started reading his books—Sunday morning she said that she had already read three, and he had to tell her that she should actually fucking read the things, not just scan them, but she still read pretty fucking fast—and talked to him about them, pointing out facts she found interesting or characters she liked or disliked. It was nice to see her doing something so basic, and that she had liked reading so much. And she had starting playing with Sumo—who had lay on top of her Sunday night, and Hank just about thought that the St. Bernard was going to crush the kid before she had reminded him that she was made of metal, saying that it actually felt good for some reason to have him lay on her—and they had taken him out for a walk—Hank knew he needed to do those more with the poor fucking dog—which was pretty nice. And she had looked into more recipes and really seemed to like cooking, along with listening to those old records Hank had. Monday morning, she had actually put one on herself, cooking some eggs and, surprisingly, fucking _humming._ And yeah, she was horribly off-tune, but it was such a _human_ thing for her to be doing, and he couldn’t wipe the stupid smile off his face when he had walked into the kitchen. 

So the past three days had been good. They talked or sat in comfortable silence, at night watching movies—they had watched "Terminator" Sunday night, which Molly hadn’t been the biggest fan of, but then they had watched "Alien" Monday night, and for some fucking unexplainable reason, the kid had loved it. 

And in the past few days, Hank truly realized that Molly was a pretty fucking weird kid.

After deviating, she was somehow even _nicer_ than before, though it didn’t seem as fake—or at least, Hank didn’t find it fake anymore. Like how she had asked for permission to have her clothes washed and take a fucking shower, even though he could have chalked that up to her just recently gaining free will and all and not being used to it yet. She had seemed so grateful for literally fucking anything Hank told her, and all he could think was how he had so much to make up to her because of all the things he had done when they had first met. And when she had come out of the bathroom, wearing normal clothes for the first time ever and long, dark brown hair instead of that short, golden bob, it was like another person had come out. She said it had looked _wrong,_ and Hank didn’t know how she had suddenly come to that conclusion, but she looked nice—and very, very fucking human. 

Molly also repeated herself a lot, like when she had nearly called him Lieutenant Saturday morning, or like when there was some loud noise in the grocery store and she looked like she was about to start freaking out. And she liked having things perfect, like OCD or some shit, because she liked cleaning so much and adjusting everything so that it wasn’t crooked or off-kilter. And when she had accidentally knocked over those records on Saturday, he couldn’t tell if she was upset because _she_ had been the one to do it or because they had been messed up, or maybe both, but she looked pretty upset, so Hank had quickly fixed them and told her it was alright. And sometimes she would avoid making eye contact with him, or would shift her eyes back and forth between him and something else. And if anything, Molly fidgeted more, playing with her coin and tapping her fingers and shaking her head sometimes—that one was new, and he didn’t know why or when she had started doing it.

So she was a weird kid. It didn’t really matter to Hank. Molly was Molly, and _that_ was all that fucking mattered. He had another person in his life again, someone that he actually cared about and cared about him, too. And seeing her sleeping on the couch, Sumo on top of her and her face content, it made Hank’s chest feel all weird, and not just because of that nightmare.

Oh yeah. The fucking nightmare. Of course he wasn’t going to forget about everything that easily as he stood staring at Molly.

Wait, what was he doing again?

Drink. Right, he was going to get a drink. At least, he would have, but how was he going to fucking drink with Molly sleeping in the same room? Yeah, he could just take it to his room, but that made him feel like a piece of shit, hiding his horrible habits. And Hank knew that the stupid beer he had was not strong enough, and he wasn’t going to drink a whole pack of them or some shit.

He needed whiskey. And there was none, because he had poured it all down the drain like the fucking idiot he was. He knew that it had been the right thing to do, but did he have to get rid of _all_ of it? He should have left at least one bottle, but then again, it almost felt wrong to have whiskey in the house when a fucking kid was living with him—even though he knew Molly couldn’t even drink the stuff, for fuck’s sake. But Hank couldn’t help himself. He needed it, he needed something stronger than fucking beer, something to drown himself in until the pain fucking _stopped,_ and at that moment, any reason for getting rid of the whiskey seemed like complete and utter bullshit.

The evacuation was over and people were slowly but surely coming back into Detroit. Warren still hadn’t released a statement about androids yet, even though Molly had said that she should have by the end of Sunday, but still, both androids and humans were making Detroit return to its usual busy, lively self. And with people coming back, businesses were already reopened like nothing had happened.

Like Jimmy’s bar.

So fuck it. He’ll just go there. He didn’t care if he was breaking his four day streak of not having whiskey, he didn’t fucking care. He just cared about pushing his memories away, locking them up in the corners of his mind, and that wasn’t going to happen until he had a drink.

Hank went over to the front door and slipped on his shoes, grabbing the car keys and about to open the door when—

“Hank?”

Fuck. He was fucked. He was so fucking fucked. 

He turned around and looked at Molly, who was squinting her eyes and lightly pushing Sumo off of her so that she could sit up. The dog opened his eyes and slowly got off her, going back to sleep on the ground next to the couch as it took her a second to come to all her senses. And when she did, her squint of fatigue became one of confusion.

“What are you doing?” She asked, voice barely louder than a whisper. She swung her legs over the side of the couch, sitting up with her usual perfect posture, and making the blanket get entangled with her legs. Her LED flashed yellow as she waited for him to answer.

What the hell was Hank even supposed to say? “I had a nightmare about my dead son, so now I’m gonna have to disappoint you and be the alcoholic that I really am?” Or was he supposed to give some shit lie, one that he couldn’t even come up with since it was the dead of night and there was no reason for him to be going anywhere?

“Nothing. Don’t worry about it, kid. Go back to sleep,” he casually said, not exactly lying, but not exactly telling the truth, either. It was stupid how he almost felt guilty for saying that, like Molly had the right to know what was going on with him, how fucked up he really was.

The android’s eyes flickered to the keys in his hand and a small frown etched onto her face. “Hank, where are you going?”

He _hated_ how her voice sounded, all worried and slow and gentle, like she was some fucking mind reader and already knew what he was doing. He knew that she would try to talk him out of leaving and he wasn’t going to be as quiet as he had been on Saturday when he had gotten rid of the alcohol. Fuck that. He had a right to leave and he would.

“It doesn’t matter. Just go back to sleep.” He didn’t mean for his voice to be so defensive, but it was and he didn’t really care. He wasn’t letting her talk him out of this. Not this time. He turned back towards the door, wanting her to just stop asking questions and go back to sleep or whatever the fuck it was that she did at night. But instead, light footsteps quickly made their way towards him, and Molly stood between him and the door, LED a mix of blue and yellow.

“I am sorry, but I cannot allow you to leave,” she said. Allow? What the fuck was she talking about? He could do whatever he goddamn wanted. 

“Molly, you can’t tell me what do to.” Hank’s tone was slipping, evolving into something more bitter and irritated. Why wouldn’t she just stop trying? The frown on Molly’s face deepened, her eyes unconsciously going to that stupid puppy dog mode. But he wasn’t going to fucking fall for it, he _wasn’t._

“Of course I cannot. You are your own person and your choices are your own.” Was she fucking patronizing him or something? That was what it sounded like, her voice all calm like how she had talked to Ortiz’s android after pulling Chris off him and how she had spoken to that broken Traci after turning her back on. Like Hank was someone who was on the verge of collapsing and had to be talked to like a fucking child, as if Molly wasn’t the fucking kid here. “But I can give you some advice: do not go. Please, stay.”

“Why do you fucking care?” Hank spat out, gripping on tightly to the keys in his hand. Molly’s eyes widened slightly, and her puppy dog look changed to one that had been fucking kicked. Hank nearly rolled his eyes. It didn’t matter how she felt, nothing mattered, he just wanted to fucking _leave._

“Hank,” Molly said his name, voice all too serious and full of emotion, “I was not lying when I told you that I want to help you. Like it or not, I am here. And since I am here, since we are friends, I want to help you. Please. Let me help you.” 

No. No, he wasn’t letting her pull that “friend” bullshit again. He wasn’t going to let some fucking kid try to comfort him. 

“I don’t _want_ your help, I want…” Hank wanted what? Whiskey, a drink? Something to make him forget. Something that would numb him, take all the pain away, all the fucking emotions that weighed him down. Something that would get rid of the temptation of getting the revolver out of his nightstand and playing Russian Roulette, of looking at that picture of Cole and thinking about _what if._ He wanted this android to stop looking at him with all that pity and concern in her eyes, like she actually cared about him, like he was someone who was worth being cared about. He wanted her to get out of the way so that he could just fucking leave, not even caring about going to the bar anymore, just somewhere he wouldn’t be subject to her fucking “advice.” He wanted it to be three years ago and to have the sense to decide that, nah, maybe he shouldn’t be driving when the roads are icy and his fucking child is in the car with him.

His child. His son. He wanted his son. 

But humans don’t come back, do they?

Molly took Hank’s lack of finishing his sentence as a signal to reach out her right hand, placing it all too gingerly on the side of his arm. He jerked his arm away like the touch burned, taking a step back, and Molly fucking _flinched._ Kicked puppy? No, more like one that was straight up fucking abused. And she was so goddamn stubborn, Hank knew she was. 

He was fucking done.

“Jesus Christ, Molly,” Hank said through gritted teeth, roughly throwing the keys back on the table next to the door. A sign of defeat. This was stupid, so fucking stupid that he was letting some little girl dictate what he could and couldn’t do. But he was done arguing, he was done being in the same room as her. He turned around and started walking back to his room. “Just leave me the hell alone.”

“Hank–”

 _"F_ _uck off ."_ Molly stayed quiet and he retreated to his room, slamming the door behind him and pretending to have not heard the sharp intake of breath when he did.

Fuck. This sucked. This fucking sucked.

Hank lay down on his bed, keeping the light on still and pressing his hands against his eyes. The pain was unbearable, strong in his head and his heart. He just wanted to drink himself into unconsciousness, not caring if he didn’t wake up.

Sleep came soon and the darkness was a sweet relief that he didn’t deserve.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hank went to sleep without drinking anything.
> 
> oof, this poor man. i kinda felt bad writing this, sorry, hank!
> 
> thank you so much for 200 hits!! it feels like such a big number omg!
> 
> come and talk to me on tumblr about dbh, especially hank and connor and reed900: [@mollyinthewater](https://mollyinthewater.tumblr.com)


	11. Resolution

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hank knows that he fucked up.
> 
> song of the chapter: in fact (the carousel remix) by gregory and the hawk

When Hank woke up, he was unhappily greeted by the bright light of his bedside lamp. He winced at the glare, rubbing a hand over his face before sitting up in his bed. Fucking hell, he felt like shit. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and sighed, the memories of what happened last night slowly coming back.

He had woken up after having a nightmare, which he was definitely _not_ going to think any more about, and then he had gone out into the living room and—

Oh. Oh _fuck._

Molly.

“Shit,” Hank breathed out quietly. He had been an asshole to her last night, hadn’t he? Their conversation replayed in his mind. He hadn’t said anything _too_ bad to her, but he hadn’t spoken to her like that, with anger and pure annoyance, since before she deviated. And the poor kid had just been trying to help him, there had been no reason for him to get upset with her.

Fuck. He felt like a piece of shit. 

Jesus, he couldn’t even begin to imagine what he would’ve said to her if he _had_ managed to get drunk and she had tried talking to him. His anger would have been amplified, and toxic thoughts would have easily been created and found their way out of him. Last time he was drunk with Molly, he had pointed a gun to her fucking head, and the thought of that night made him feel even worse.

A grimace found its way on Hank’s face. What the fuck was he even going to do? He’d never been good with “making up” and all that bullshit, especially when it came to _him_ apologizing about something. He was too stubborn for his own good sometimes.

But he had to say something, didn’t he? Molly was new to emotions and shit, what if she was mad at him about it? Though, the kid never seemed to get angry or anything (the only emotions he had really seen out of her were good ones, like happiness and humor), but still, not apologizing would be a bad example of what to do, right?

Fuck, when had he become this kid’s mentor on how to be a good person and properly deal with emotions? He was definitely one of the least qualified people to do that, but damn it if he wasn’t going to try.

Forcing himself to just suck it up, Hank stood up and turned off his light before leaving his room. It was already ten in the morning, so the sun was up and illuminating the house. He sighed as he closed his door behind him. All he had to do was say sorry, or something along those lines. He couldn’t just pretend like last night didn’t happen—even though it wasn’t like he didn’t want that.

Molly probably wasn’t even upset. He may have been thinking too much about how she was a teenage girl, but she wasn’t. Not really. She sure as hell wasn’t like any other teenager Hank had ever known throughout his life, which made sense because she was a _fucking android that was made to be able to kill people._ And she knew what Hank was like, so it probably hadn’t been very surprising to her that he had gotten angry.

Shit, that wasn’t how their relationship should work, was it? With Molly just expecting Hank to get upset over stupid shit?

Yeah, he had to say _something._

Hank walked out to the living room, the house silent, which it rarely was thanks to Molly always doing something to keep herself busy. He glanced at the couch, seeing it with the pillows perfect and the blanket neatly folded and draped against the back of the sofa. The kid always made it look as if she wasn’t living on the thing, or that anyone even used it. 

Wait. The house was _silent._

Hank looked in the kitchen, finding it empty. The fuck? It wasn’t like he had been expecting her to be making him breakfast or something, but if she wasn’t on the couch and she wasn’t in the kitchen, then where the fuck was she? 

He turned back towards the hallway, seeing that the bathroom door was closed, and he couldn’t tell whether or not the light was on. He knew that Molly didn’t have to use the bathroom or anything, and if she was taking a shower then he would’ve heard the water running, but maybe she was fixing her hair or something?

Hank walked over to the bathroom door and knocked lightly. “Molly?”

No response. He knocked again, this time a little louder in case she hadn’t heard him. “Kid, you in there?”

Still nothing. 

“If you don’t say anything, then I’m gonna open the door,” Hank gently warned. He was met with silence, so he put his hand on the door handle and slowly cracked open the door. The bathroom was dark and quiet. Molly wasn’t in there. He closed the door and went back into the living room.

Where the fuck was she?

She’d only been living with him for the past three days, but the kid never left the house by herself, only going out with Hank. And he knew that she would tell him if she was going somewhere.

But maybe…

No. She wouldn’t have.

Right?

Molly wouldn’t have left, right?

Shit. She did, didn’t she? She was gone and it was all Hank’s fault because he had gotten mad at her for no good reason. Molly had been trying to help him, for fuck’s sake, and he had been too blinded by his temptations to realize that. Jesus, he couldn’t do anything right, could he? Any good relationship he had, he had more or less fucked them up in the last three years. And now, he had done it with whatever the fuck it was that he and Molly had. She left because she realized that he couldn’t be helped, that he was too fucked up to be helped, and that he would just fuck her up, too, in the end.

Fuck. What was _wrong_ with him?

Suddenly, the noise of the front door opening broke the silence and Hank’s eyes snapped away from the empty couch.

“Here, you are free. Yes, you are welcome,” Molly said to Sumo as she unhooked the leash from his collar. She closed the door and then put the leash back on the table next to the door, Sumo walking over to Hank and silently asking for attention like always.

Oh. She went out to walk Sumo. That made sense. More sense than Molly just having left. She was too nice a kid to have done something like that. And Hank hadn’t even thought about where the dog was. He bent over slightly and pet his dog, scratching him behind the ears where he knew the St. Bernard liked the most.

Molly turned away from the table and froze, her eyes landing on Hank and a fucking smile—seriously, who the fuck _was_ this kid—appearing on her face. 

“You are awake. How are you feeling?” Molly asked. She put her hands behind her back like usual as Hank awkwardly crossed his arms, looking away. What the fuck? Was she really asking him how he was _feeling?_ Jesus, maybe Molly just didn’t register bad emotions, only the good ones, because there was no trace of anger or sarcasm in her words. Only concern.

It only made Hank feel worse.

“Uh… I’m okay,” he answered, Sumo walking away and going over to his food. Hank sighed and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. He just had to man up and apologize. It was the right thing to do and he knew that. He had to do it. “Look, Molly… I shouldn’t have—fuck—I shouldn’t have been such a jerk to you last night. I—”

 _"_ _Hank,"_ Molly interrupted him. He looked back at the kid, whose smile had faded and had instead been replaced with an earnest expression. She took a few steps towards him, pausing when they were only a few feet away from each other. “Do not say anything. Really. I know that what you are going through is difficult. And I know that it is difficult to not be able to fall back on old habits and to have someone else around. It is difficult to open up and let other people in.”

Molly seemed empathetic in a way, but Hank knew that she didn’t even know the _half_ of just how difficult everything was. The past few years of his life were ones where the only comfort he could get would be found from a bottle or his dog, not another living person. He didn’t ever go to therapy or any of that stupid shit, he had refused. He didn’t talk to people about his issues, speaking the most to Sumo, really. So yeah, she was right. It was pretty fucking hard to find a new way to make himself cope, and to have another person actually living with him. 

But Molly was trying to understand. He could tell, and that meant something.

“But,” Molly continued talking, “I want _you_ to know that I care about you and that I am proud of you.”

Hank stared at the android in shock. What the fuck did she just say? What the hell would there be for her to be proud of him about? That he didn’t say anything that would have really fucking hurt her?

 _“Proud_ of me?” Hank echoed, scoffing lightly. “For what? For being an asshole to you?”

The corners of Molly’s mouth quirked up a little, but no real smile appeared on her face. “No. For not leaving. You were very strong and I am proud of you for that.”

Hank hadn’t been strong, per sé, he had just gotten frustrated and given up. And when was the last someone someone told him that they were _proud_ of him? Christ, this kid really was acting like his fucking mom.

“And I know the difference between you being upset and you being upset with _me,_ ” Molly added. “Your behavior towards me was not intentional. There is no need to apologize.”

She was giving Hank an out and he would gladly take it. It was fucking weird to think about how Molly was almost more mature than him. Still, Hank’s feelings of guilt didn’t completely go away.

“You’re… too nice,” Hank said. Molly took a couple more steps towards him, leaving only about a foot of space between the two. She looked up at him, her forest green eyes meeting his icy blue ones, and a smile finally reappeared on her face.

“I am reasonable, Hank. There is a difference.” A small smile found its way on Hank’s face—that was weird, too, how much he smiled lately, because really, this kid’s smiles and laughter were too fucking infectious. He unfolded his arms and placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing lightly. Her smile widened at the contact.

“You’re a good kid, Molly.” A breathy laugh escaped her as she broke eye contact for a moment. “But if I act like that again, or do some stupid shit to you, it’s okay for you to get mad at me.”

Hank didn’t want it to sound like he was telling Molly what she was allowed to feel, but he wanted her to know that she didn’t always have to be all reasonable and calm. It was okay to do irrational things, let her emotions take over. To not always let people just say whatever they want to her and just have some kind of sympathetic view towards them.

Molly glanced back at him and said nothing, just shaking her head no. He took his hand off her shoulder and put his arms against his sides. Yeah, that was the kind of answer he had been expecting from her. Hank knew that she really was too damn nice. Hopefully she wouldn’t bottle up any of her emotions like he always did.

Fuck, he _really_ wasn’t a good example of what to do with feelings, huh?

“Actually, that reminds me,” Molly said. “If something like that happens again, with you waking up in the middle of the night and being unable to immediately go back to sleep, just wake me up. We can talk, or watch TV or something.”

Okay, now she really was acting like his mom, and Hank didn’t know how he felt about that.

“Molly, you really don’t have to offer that, or… I don’t know, try to fucking comfort me or some shit.” She was just some teenager and he was a grown man. He could handle himself, and it was kinda weird to have _her_ be the one to try and help _him_ . “I mean, _you’re_ the kid.”

“And what does that make you?” Molly asked, cocking her head slightly. Shit, that did sound kinda weird. Why had he said it like that?

“It makes me… the adult,” Hank answered, shrugging. “And as the adult, I don’t need you to try and help me.” 

“That should not matter,” Molly said. “As friends—”

“Christ, you’re really milking this whole ‘friend’ thing, aren’t you?”

“As a matter of fact, yes, I am,” Molly said proudly. Hank raised his eyebrows at her. “And as I was saying, as _friends,_ you would help me if I was struggling with something, would you not?”

Oh god, was she really asking him that right now? This kid was too straightforward sometimes. Still, Hank wasn’t going to just not answer that, and it wasn’t like he hadn’t helped her like that before, like when they had come back to his house after leaving Kamski’s.

“Well… yeah. Yeah, ‘course I would.” Hank wasn’t best at comforting people and shit like that, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t try. And he had gone through enough shit himself to know what to maybe do. Plus, Molly was probably going to need all the help she could get when it came to struggling with emotions and everything. Hank couldn’t even imagine what that was like, to have been alive and felt nothing, and then suddenly you just fucking feel _everything._

“Then why can I not do the same for you?” Molly questioned.

_This fucking kid._

Just like last night, Hank knew that Molly was stubborn as all hell, just like him. She would keep on saying stuff like that—stuff that made sense, not that Hank would admit that—until he gave in. So, he just sighed and shook his head. 

“Okay, okay. Fine,” Hank said. Molly practically beamed at him, perfect white teeth being shown off. He just rolled his eyes. “But look, I’m not into the whole ‘talking’ thing, and this is already pretty fucking weird as it is—”

“We can do whatever you want,” Molly cut him off. “If you are not comfortable with talking, we do not have to talk. You can talk about… about whatever it is when you are ready.”

Hank was glad that Molly didn’t just straight up say what it was that was torturing him so much. He knew that she knew practically everything—she had told the whole story of Cole dying at the CyberLife tower and even knew that a part of Hank blamed himself for everything. And she had been there with him on one of his worse nights, when he had passed out completely drunk while playing Russian Roulette. He had had the picture of Cole out on the kitchen table, and Molly was fucking smart. 

“Yeah… thanks.” He didn’t know if he would ever talk about all of that. Especially to some kid. But Molly _was_ living with him now, she was the first person in a long time that cared about Hank, and that Hank cared about, too. People always said that talking shit out was good for you, to share the burden or whatever.

Not yet. He wouldn’t talk about it yet. But maybe one day.

“You’re a weird fucking kid, you know that?” Hank asked. Molly giggled, the laugh letting Hank feel a little less guilty since it seemed she was already back to her usual, energetic, happy mood.

“Yes. Yes, I do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hank's trying, and that's enough.
> 
> this is pretty short, but i wanted to post something because i got kinda busy and also i felt like i should separate this chapter and the next one or else it felt too long.
> 
> thank you so much for 300 hits!! what the fuck, dont know how we got here so fast, but here we are!!
> 
> come and talk to me on tumblr about dbh, especially hank and connor and reed900: [@mollyinthewater](https://mollyinthewater.tumblr.com)


	12. Identities

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Molly and Hank go shopping.
> 
> song of the chapter: XS by rina sawayama

**[Mission: Reconcile with Hank]**

**[Mission: Accomplished]**

Molly couldn’t push down the smile that was fighting to be on her face as she watched the text pop up. Her legs swung silently as she sat at the kitchen table, a comedy show on the TV that Hank said he used to watch when he was younger. It took place at a police station in New York, and although she had already counted four inaccuracies in the one episode, she enjoyed it.

What had happened last night with Hank could barely be called a fight. It was more so a vent, in a way. She had been expecting some kind of outburst or retaliation from him when it came to the alcohol, she just hadn’t been ready for when it would occur and what it would be like. All things considered though, the man did not get as upset as she would have once that he would. And the fact that he didn’t push past her and leave—and that this morning he wanted to apologize to her—made Molly care little about whatever way he had treated her last night. 

Sumo walked past the table and Molly made sure to pat him on the back as he made his way over to lay down near the couch. 

“You spoil the hell out of that dog,” Hank commented before putting a spoonful of milk and cereal into his mouth. He had insisted on Molly not making his breakfast this morning, but like she had started doing, she still sat with him as he ate. 

“He deserves it,” Molly said, not bothering to look at Hank and instead watching as Sumo plopped himself onto the ground, his eyes closing as he quickly drifted off to sleep. Hank lightly scoffed in response and Molly knew without looking that he most likely rolled his eyes.

A notification popped up in Molly’s sight, blocking her view of the television. Her legs stopped moving as she read the text.

_Markus: President Warren is giving a statement right now._

Molly’s eyes widened as a small gasp escaped her. President Warren, according to the leaders, should have spoken before the weekend was over. Sunday night came and went, though, and with no word yet from the government, every minute was a chance of a surprise speech to be given. All of the androids were on edge, especially Markus and the others. 

Hank jumped at her sudden breath—she never did anything so sudden, no wonder he flinched so sharply—a bewildered look immediately coming across his face.

“Jesus, you fucking scared me!” He exclaimed, no trace of anger found in his voice. If Molly had turned to look at Hank, she would have scanned him and found his heart rate to be elevated, obviously, but she was too busy gathering herself together from the sudden message. “What? What’s going on?”

Molly stayed mute, instead changing the TV channel to the first news station she could think of. Her eyes blinked wildly and her LED flickered yellow from the action. Hank’s eyes flashed between her and the television.

“Woah, what the–did _you_ do that?” Hank asked, but Molly didn’t answer. Hank stayed silent, too, as he realized what was going on. The two stared at the screen, President Warren standing behind a podium in a room most likely filled with reporters.

 _“–ter thirty-six hours of debate, the Senate committee has come to a conclusion,”_ President Warren spoke, her voice serious and not exactly monotone, but not exactly full of emotion, either. Molly knew that the woman wasn’t against androids—not completely, at least. She had been the one to stop Markus and the last reaming members of Jericho from being killed. She had seen reason in their cause. Surely, whatever she was about to say would be good.

 _“All androids are to be henceforth recognized as intelligent, free-thinking, autonomous beings. Amendments to guarantee their social and legal equality are to be fast-tracked. The rights and liberties of the American Constitution are to be guaranteed.”_ The background noise of camera shutters and clicks turned into loud voices, all asking and practically yelling out their own questions for the blonde. President Warren didn’t bother taking any of them, immediately stepping down from the podium and walking away. The channel switched to the feed of a news reporter sitting down, hands folded and already giving her own opinion of the statements.

Molly didn’t hear what the new woman was saying, though. She was replaying the president’s words over and over again in her head. 

Androids were _free_. They were going to be given _rights_. There was a chance of peace, two races living in harmony. There would be no more owners, no more having to obey and live in fear of being caught showing emotions. No more shame in being a deviant ( _no more deviant hunting_ ).

“So?” Hank asked, his voice hushed and gentle, like the way he had spoken to her when he had taken her to his house after going to Kamski’s. “How do you feel?” 

_“How do you feel?”_

If it was a week ago, Molly would have simply responded with, “I am an android. I cannot feel.” But things were different, _everything_ , truly _everything_ was different. She felt emotions, whether they were fake or not, whether they were just simulations etched into her programming from the very beginning—

 _No_. No, she was not going to think about that right now. She was not going to let something like that, something that brought up such a sick and heavy feeling in the android, ruin her moment. 

“Kid?” Hank prodded, his voice still in the quiet tone. Molly blinked twice and took a deep breath, her legs going back to swinging, but at a slower tempo. She could practically feel her LED circling from that sunshine yellow to a blinking cyan.

“Wonderful,” Molly breathed out, smiling. Her chest felt like it was bursting and her head was light. She could only imagine how all the other androids felt, especially the leaders. They all must be positively ecstatic. She opened her mouth again to elaborate, but couldn’t find the right words. “Like–Like–Like I cannot really begin to explain how I feel.”

She turned and looked at Hank, who was staring at her with a small smile of his own on his face and something akin to pride glimmering in his eyes. “Yeah, I get that.”

“I mean, it is not like I need someone to tell me that I am my own person. I know that already, I really do.” Well, Molly knew that for the most part, at least. She knew that, after everything, she was more than just the machine that she had been made to be. “But still, it is… _validating_.”

A worried look came across Molly’s face, her smile faltering. Was that wrong? To crave that validation, someone telling her that she was alive? To hear that confirmation of yes, she wasn’t just a machine?

“Is that bad?” Molly questioned. Hank’s eyes widened a little, his smile faltering but not leaving his face.

“Not at all,” he answered. A feeling of small relief came across Molly at his response. “Makes sense after all the shit you’ve been through.”

Molly nodded her head. She had been through a lot, hadn’t she? Discrimination from nearly every human she had ever met, the mindset that had been put into her head that she was only a machine, that horrible A.I. that had been inside her head. 

Life hadn’t always been the best for her, and then again, had her existence up until now even be called a life? But now, there was a chance for things to be better. _Hope_.

Molly changed the TV channel back to the television show, cutting off the news lady from her monologue about the future of humans and androids living together as equal races. 

“Never seen you do that before,” Hank said, referring to her changing the channel. 

“All androids have built-in bluetooth chips that allow them to connect to electronic devices that were produced after the year 2023. That includes cellular phones, signs, and televisions,” Molly explained. Hank squinted his eyes at her a little.

“You sound like a fucking ad. Are you reading that off something in your robo-brain?” Molly laughed and shook her head.

“No. I just… know. I have hundreds of sets of information stored inside me, so with whatever question you might have for me that pertains to one of those sets of information, I already have an answer prepared for it.” Molly paused, an amused smirk coming up on her face. “And surprisingly, it is not called a _robo-brain_. I have a CPU.”

Hank stared at her for a second before picking up his cup of coffee, about to take a sip from it. “I feel like you just explained to me why you’re such a smartass.”

Molly laughed some more and shrugged, returning her attention to the television. She should probably text Markus and the others something, since they had been the ones to alert her about Warren’s speech.

_You: Thank you for telling me. I am very happy about President Warren’s statement._

_Simon: same here. that went a lot better than expected._

_North: yeah, as long as she actually goes through with what she said._

_Markus: She will. We’ll make sure of that._

_Josh: That is, as long as CyberLife cooperates, but I don’t think they would have much of a choice at this point._

_CyberLife_. Molly had completely forgotten about the company. Well, not exactly forgotten, but she hadn’t bothered to think about what they would be doing about all of this. What kinds of things would they even say about their creations that have now gained free will? It wasn’t like they could do anything against the androids, thanks to Warren’s statement, but it was still somewhat nerve-wracking to think of what the company was going to do. 

Every android had been owned by CyberLife, since the company was what created them, but Molly’s relationship with the business was different. She had been forced to have a close relationship with the company through her reports to them, and they had always seemed to put a lot of pressure on her. She was their most advanced prototype, after all.

And what happened at the CyberLife tower… another “Molly” model had been sent out by none other than CyberLife to stop her, stop deviancy. CyberLife’s last chance had once been the RK800-52, but at that moment, it had been the RK800-60. Of course, the latter failed, but it was unsettling to think that CyberLife had allowed another version of her to even hold someone—Hank, a human, no less—hostage and threaten to kill him in order to succeed.

CyberLife wasn’t a good company. It just wasn’t. A part of Molly hoped that the company would just shut down and fall off the face of the earth.

_You: Are they going to give out a statement any time soon?_

_Josh: We have no idea, but whatever they would say couldn’t be that bad._

_North: hopefully it’ll be them giving us what we need and closing_

A light feeling appeared in Molly’s chest. It felt good to know that she wasn’t the only one who wanted CyberLife gone.

_Markus: We’re going to talk more about everything tomorrow. Molly, could you meet up with us?_

_You: Of course. When and where?_

_Markus: 8941 Lafayette Avenue. Is 8 a.m. alright?_

_You: Yes. I will see you all there._

_Markus: Great, we’ll see you tomorrow._

The text went away. This would be the first time Molly had seen the leaders ever since she left them to go and meet up with Hank. For some reason, a part of her almost felt nervous. It would be fine, though, obviously. Nothing to be worried about. 

So why did she feel like something could go wrong?

Molly silently sighed. She must have been feeling off due to the thought of CyberLife. She still felt like they might want to take back control, like what Amanda had tried to do when she was on stage with Markus. That had been CyberLife’s doing, after all. If they didn’t go away, would the threat of them trying to control Molly remain?

The android ran a hand through her hair, her thumb brushing against her LED. By now, it would probably be alright for her to stop hiding it whenever she left the house—which had only been when she went to the grocery store with Hank on Saturday and when she had walked Sumo.

“I suppose that I do not have to hide my LED anymore,” Molly said. It would be nice to stop having to wear hats—not that she minded it, but she was always reminded of her infiltrating Jericho whenever she put one on.

Hank looked at her and opened his mouth to say something, hesitating as his eyebrows knit together. “Why haven’t you just taken it out? It’s not painful or anything, right?”

“Androids do not feel pain. We do not have a nervous system like humans do, with neurons and nociceptors. Instead, anything that damages my body would simply–”

“Okay, first off, I don’t even know what the fuck a nociceptor is,” Hank interrupted the android. “And second, it sounds like you’re kinda dodging the question.”

“You asked me two questions,” Molly said matter-of-factly, folding her hands in her lap. 

“You really are such a smartass,” Hank deadpanned, causing a small smile to appear on Molly’s face. “A simple yes or no would’ve been fine.”

“No, it would not be painful.”

“Then why haven’t you taken it out?” Hank asked again. “I thought that that would be the first thing androids did when they deviated.”

Molly’s hands squeezed each other as she cocked her head. “Why would you think that? If you recall, the WB200 at the urban farms had taken out his LED the day we had been looking for him, but he had deviated two years prior.”

“Still dodging the question.”

Molly tensed and looked away. She knew that most deviants didn’t have their LEDs in anymore. Even the AP700s she had deviated from the CyberLife tower had begun taking out their LEDs that same day. Deviants took out their LEDs to appear more human, Molly understood that perfectly. But she wasn’t human. She was an android, and that little circle on her right temple was a part of her, both literally and metaphorically. The thought of just ripping it out made her uncomfortable, to say the least, even though she knew that her attachment to the ring was illogical.

“I… I would rather not,” Molly answered, her voice a little deflated. “I am not very comfortable with the idea of getting rid of it yet.”

Hank’s face softened at the tone of Molly’s voice, though he still looked a little confused. “How come?”

Hank didn’t seem to understand Molly’s attachment, and she didn’t either. It would be so easy to just pop it off with a pointed object, like a butterknife. And if it was gone, then she would look more human than ever. More _normal_ than ever.

But preconstructing a plan of standing up and opening one of the kitchen drawers to pull out a knife and using it to get rid of her LED made something in Molly’s chest tighten, and it was nearly frustrating to not be able to put a pin on why exactly she felt like that.

“I do not know.” Molly looked back at Hank, noticing how his eyes flashed to her flickering yellow LED. “I apologize, I do not know how to explain it.”

“Nothing to be sorry about,” Hank said, shrugging casually and taking another bite of his cereal. Molly could tell that he wanted to push the topic further, but for the moment he seemed fine with those answers. A slight grimace appeared on Hank’s face. “I mean, I don’t think _I’d_ wanna cut something outta my face.”

The corners of Molly’s mouth turned upwards as she nodded, not bothering to say how that really wasn’t the issue. Some of the tension left her body as she looked down at her hands, unfolding them and simply placing them palms-down on her thighs.

“Y’know,” Hank started talking again, “since you don’t have to hide your blinker anymore–”

“It is not a _blinker_.”

“You’re right, it’s more like a mood ring.” Molly laughed, not being able to cut him off again and tell him that it was called an LED. “And since you don’t have to cover it up now and everything’s starting to calm down, maybe we can go and get you some clothes.”

Molly glanced at the clothes she was currently was wearing: a long, plain orange t-shirt over a pair of navy leggings. She was still only wearing the clothes Hank was lending her, keeping her CyberLife-issued uniform in his closet, untouched. She had wanted to wait until at least President Warren said something to buy new clothes. It felt ridiculous to have to hide what she was when she was leaving the house, though she knew it had been somewhat necessary until it was official that deviants were going to be accepted.

“Plus, it’s getting kinda weird seeing you in my ex’s stuff,” Hank added. “I feel like I’m having flashbacks.”

Molly giggled, one of her usual smiles plastered on her face. “Well, in that case, I think that it is a good idea.”

“Great,” Hank said, finishing the rest of his coffee.

“And Hank?” Molly said, her eyes returning the television. Three of the characters were bickering with each other in the bullpen of the police station.

“Yeah?”

“It is called an LED.”

“Shut the fuck up.” Molly just laughed more.

* * *

One thing Molly had never experienced during her time as a machine was variety. She introduced herself the same way to everyone, her hair always looked the same, and she never wore anything besides her CyberLife uniform (except for when she went to Jericho, of course).

So, it wasn’t very surprising that when she and Hank walked into one of the clothing stores of the WoodWard Mall Center—one of the only places right now that accepted androids—she suddenly felt very overwhelmed and unsure of what to do. 

There were so many clothes. How was she supposed to choose from them? It would be easier to just go back home and put her CyberLife clothes back on, never putting anything else on ever again. But Molly knew that that wasn’t an option. Both Hank and the leaders thought that it would be good for her to have clothes of her own and to stop wearing her old ones. She was a deviant now, she couldn’t be wearing those clothes anymore. That didn’t mean, though, that a part of her didn’t want to go along with that plan.

“The only clothes I have ever owned are my CyberLife-issued articles of clothing. And even then, I never technically owned them. They were still CyberLife property,” Molly said to Hank as the two walked over to a group of hanging shirts on racks. The store was fairly quiet, modern alternative music playing in the background. At just a glance, there were eight other people in the store: two employees, a mother and her two daughters, and group of friends. They were all humans, no other androids. Molly had seen another android, though, when Hank and her had walked over to the store. He had been an HR400, and judging by the glare and scowl he had sent Molly’s way, he had recognized her. Thankfully, Hank hadn’t noticed. “How am I supposed to know what clothes to get?”

“Just… pick what you like,” Hank said. “You gotta develop your own sense of style or whatever. It’s what everyone has to do at least once in their life.”

Molly furrowed her eyebrows. “Like how you developed a sense of style that includes loud, button-down shirts?”

“Hey, that better not be an insult. My shirts are cool,” Hank defended himself. Molly laughed and looked down at a shirt next to her. It was a short-sleeve, gray shirt with the word “Tennessee” on it in big, blocky, orange letters. What was so appealing about the name of a state? “It’ll take a while before you have as good a fashion sense that I do.”

“Of course,” Molly sincerely said, looking away from the Tennessee shirt. Hank squinted his eyes at her.

“I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic or not.”

“Why would I be sarcastic?” Molly asked, but her mischievous smile said otherwise. Hank rolled his eyes.

“I fucking hate you.” Molly’s nose scrunched up as she giggled, looking at another shirt. This one was white and had a pocket on the right breast, an illustration of a shark jumping out of water at the top of the pocket. It seemed a little weird to the android.

“I do not know what I like,” Molly slowly said, turning her attention back towards Hank, who had also been looking at some of the shirts. She hadn’t been built to have opinions, so she had yet to really create ones for clothes. She knew she liked dogs and fish, and she liked cooking, cleaning, reading, and watching movies with Hank. She liked walking Sumo in the morning and listening to Hank’s old jazz records. But when it came to clothes, there was a blank slate.

“Well, start off easy. What are your favorite colors?” Hank asked. Molly looked to the side in thought for a few seconds before looking back at Hank.

“All of them.” Hank chuckled at the response, crossing him arms over his chest.

“Why am I not surprised?” Hank muttered. “What are your top three?”

Molly hummed and looked back at the Tennessee shirt. “I think… blue. And… gray.”

The android thought about her choices for a moment. CyberLife colors, more specifically the colors of her jacket. And by the way Hank shifted a little in the place he was standing, he realized that, too. She suddenly felt a little ashamed at her answers. Her third answer couldn’t be a color that was included on her uniform.

Molly looked down at the clothes she was currently wearing. She had switched out the navy sweatpants for a pair of light jeans and the orange t-shirt for a lavender sweater. Purple. That was a nice color, right? The Eden Club had been lit up with purple-tinted lights, and though Molly would prefer to not think of that weird establishment, she did enjoy the colors that had been used to illuminate the place. Purple was aesthetically pleasing to her, she guessed, and it was not a color that was on her CyberLife clothes, so it was as good a choice as any.

“And purple,” Molly quickly finished her answers. 

“Okay. Then look for clothes in those colors and go from there.”

There was a blue shirt next to the white one with the shark on it. Molly pulled it off the rack and held it in her hands, one on the hanger and one on the left bottom corner of the shirt. It was a short-sleeve, button-down shirt, reminding her of the white one she had once always worn. She liked those kinds of shirts, the ones that Hank usually wore. The loose-fitting sweaters and t-shirts she had been borrowing from Hank felt too casual and informal, it was like she had actually _missed_ wearing the white dress shirt—though she knew that it was good to not be wearing it for the time being. 

The shirt she was holding was a light sky blue with a ditsy floral pattern, little white flowers that Molly could somewhat identify as poppies. _Flowers_. Molly liked flowers. Flowers were pretty. There was a house down the street where Hank lived that Molly had passed twice when walking Sumo that had purple and blue hydrangeas and red and pink geraniums in the front yard. They were very beautiful, and Sumo had nearly dragged her away from them the first time she saw them because she had stopped walking and stared. And the Zen Garden had–

Oh. She hadn’t even realized… 

No, she was _not_ going to think about that, and she was not going to let that place ruin flowers for her. There were flowers in many other places. Flowers were nice. _Molly liked flowers._

Except roses.

“I think I like this,” Molly thoughtfully stated, her left thumb rubbing back and forth gently across the soft fabric. Hank peered at the shirt and arched an eyebrow at the girl.

“I thought you didn’t like _loud_ , _button-down shirts_?” Hank questioned wryly.

“Not in general,” Molly responded, a large smile cracking on her face. “I was specifically referring to yours.”

Hank put his right palm against his chest, face feigning faux offense. “Wow. That’s harsh, kid.”

“I am _joking_ ,” Molly laughed out. “Your shirts are…”

She looked away for a moment and blinked before looking back at Hank. “... nice.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Hank waved her off, a lop-sided smile on his face. “Just, uh… make sure not to get _too_ much, alright?”

Molly turned her head a bit to the side, her eyebrows lowering in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“I’m not exactly made of money, Molly.”

“Hank…” The android glanced back and forth between the human and the floral shirt. “Are you implying that _you_ would be paying for my clothes?”

“... yeah?” Hank said, his expression mirroring Molly’s bewildered one. “Who else would?”

“ _Me_. I have money.”

“Wait, what? You do?” Hank asked incredulously. A couple walked by them, and Molly nearly felt like she had to cover up her LED in reflex.

“Yes. When I came to the DPD, CyberLife had allocated me some funds, and they… may or may not have forgotten to take them back,” Molly explained. The money CyberLife had granted her when she was sent to the DPD was still in an accessible account, even though she was sure CyberLife wouldn’t want her to use it for her own personal reasons, or just in general since she was a deviant now. But the money was still there, technically in her name, so she had the right to spend it, right? “Remember when I bought you that drink at Jimmy’s Bar?”

“Huh. I never thought about that,” Hank said, looking away as if he was recalling that night in his head. A stronger display of perplexity came up on his face as he looked back at Molly. “Why the hell would they even give you money?”

“Payment for transportation and such, and in case I ever needed to buy something or give someone money in order to complete a mission.” She had only used the money when she had bought Hank that drink, and when she had ridden a taxi to his house the night she had found him unconscious on the kitchen floor. 

“Well, how much is it?”

Molly looked away and pulled up the account, reading off the available balance. “Two-thousand, nine-hundred, eighty-two dollars and thirty-one cents.”

“Two-thousand—” Hank cut himself off, scoffing and eyes wide. His confusion had quickly turned to shock. “That’s practically three-thousand dollars! What the _fuck_. Those assholes really did just throw around money, didn’t they?”

“Is that a lot?” Molly asked. She didn’t particularly know of the amount was that large. All she knew was that it was supposed to last her whole existence, which was going to be about six months since she was just a prototype. Once April came around, she was going to return to CyberLife and be deactivated, a new version of herself being released and taking her place. Of course, that wasn’t going to happen anymore, thankfully.

“Hell yeah, it is. Get all the clothes you fucking want.” Molly laughed, looking at the hanging shirts and picking another one out. It was a button-down like the one she was already holding, with a various-sized daisies scattered across a purple and white gingham pattern.

“I do not plan on spending _all_ of it, of course,” Molly said. With her calculations, her purchases today should amount to around three-hundred dollars, nearly a tenth of her money. “And I cannot think of any other uses I would have for it, so once I have bought everything I need today, I will just give you the excess funds.”

“What?” Hank said, nonplussed and eyebrows raising. “Molly, no, that’s _your_ money.”

“But I am living with you now, and I do not require anything else. It would be a waste to just let it sit there.”

“You don’t know that you’re not gonna need it again.”

“Hank,” Molly started, standing up a little straighter, “the only reason I could imagine using the money is on something for you.”

Hank gaped at her slightly once she said that before sighing and looking away. “Kid–”

“ _Hank_ ,” Molly said his name again, this time more sternly, “I can do this all day. Really.”

Hank opened his mouth to say something but then snapped it shut, shaking his head.

“Just… take half. _Please_ ,” Molly said softly, her green irises practically boring a hole into Hank’s head. 

“Fine, fine, fuck you, I’ll take your goddamn money. But _only_ half,” Hank spat out. Molly nodded and smiled gratefully at his crumbled resolve. He rolled his eyes at her and sighed again. “Christ. I don’t understand how you’re like this.”

Molly was standing still, but she felt like she had suddenly tripped on something. Her smile wavered and became weirdly crooked. “What do you mean?”

“I mean how you’re always so fucking nice,” Hank said. There was no anger or bite to his words, but Molly’s smile still faded. She felt a light, simulated heat on her face, and if she was human, she knew that she would have been blushing.

“Is… is that bad?” Molly quietly asked, looking down at the purple shirt in her left hand. She was supposed to be nice. That was how she had been programmed (re-programmed). That way, people would like her more. But maybe that was annoying to some people, like Hank? It didn’t feel like she could help it, though. She had been meant to be nice and happy and laugh a lot, and all those traits had apparently carried over in her deviancy.

Of course, that was unless Molly wasn’t a deviant. If she really was still a machine that had been meant to deviate and Amanda had been able to get rid of her deviancy and was just waiting for the right moment to take back control. 

The black plastic of the hangers nearly began bending thanks to Molly’s tightened grip on them, her LED spinning bright yellow.

“No, no, Molly, hey, I–” Hank stuttered out. He groaned and awkwardly put his hands in the pockets of his dark jacket. “I wasn’t trying to be mean. Being nice all the time… isn’t a bad thing. I mean, sometimes it is, ‘cuz people can take advantage of it, but I know you can handle yourself.”

“I’m just…” Hank continued, pausing for a moment. Molly looked up at him, the man avoiding her eyes and looking at the shirts she was holding. “I don’t fucking know. I guess I’m not used to it.”

Oh. _Oh._

Whether Hank wasn’t used to someone being so nice to him or being nice to him all the time didn’t matter. Either way, Molly’s heart sunk in her chest at human’s words. Hank _deserved_ people to be nice to him. He was a good person, he was caring, and he was kind. He deserved better than that.

“Well, you better,” Molly said, forcing a smile onto her face. Her grip on the hangers loosened. “Or else I will make you get used to it.”

Hank looked at her and squinted his eyes. “Are you… threatening me with kindness?”

“Yes,” Molly said in all seriousness. Hank barked out a laugh at her sudden earnesty.

“You’re unbelievable,” he muttered, causing Molly’s smile to widen and her LED to return to its crisp blue. 

After four minutes, Molly had picked out two more button-down shirts—a light salmon one with ditsy white, light blue, and dark orange flowers and a white one with ditsy pink poppies—and a pair of light blue jeans. Even though she could calculate the measurements of the materials and determine whether or not they would fit her body, she still thought that it would be a good idea to try the clothes on. So, she went to the dressing room and into one of the spaces, Hank on the other side of the door waiting for her.

The android put on the blue and white button-down and the pair of jeans. They were very similar to the ones she had already had on, but they definitely fit her a lot better. After she had buttoned the last clear button, she turned around and looked into the body-length mirror on the wall.

It felt like she was looking at herself for the first time again in Jimmy’s bar or when she had seen herself in regular clothes with her new hair for the first time in Hank’s bathroom. 

It didn’t feel like she was looking in a mirror. It felt like she was looking at a different person.

The shirt looked nice. It fit her well, like the jeans did. It was short sleeve, like the other shirts (Molly felt tempted to just wear her CyberLife jacket over it, but she knew it would be better to get a new jacket today). She hadn’t really looked at her arms in detail before or thought much about it, but now she realized how weird it was to be showing her arms. She always wore long-sleeves before, but she had started wearing short-sleeves the past few days, so why did it feel off to have them exposed? The skin was smooth and pale, like the rest of her body, and there were tiny moles scattered over her fore and upper arms, just like her face and her legs, though they were being covered by the pants.

Molly looked down at herself. Her dark gray boots definitely did not fit it with the rest of her outfit. She would have to get new shoes, too, replacing every part of her CyberLife uniform.

She looked back up at the mirror and nearly jumped at what she saw. It was still her, but not herself, _her old self_ , complete with the CyberLife clothes and short, golden hair. A blank face with empty, green eyes and a gun in hand. A toy, a weapon, a puppet. A machine meant to don fake smiles and do the humans’ biddings.

Molly blinked and the image went away, being replaced with the new, current version of herself. Some teenager with twitching fingers and a worried look in her eyes. Her LED was back to yellow, flashing on and off.

Molly was a teenager. Sixteen to eighteen years-old. It didn’t feel like she was one, though. She knew that she talked more formally than most teenagers, than even most adults most of the time. She used large words and didn’t use contractions and spoke of things that most teenagers probably wouldn’t know of. She could do the most complex calculations in her head and had every piece of knowledge at the tip of her fingers. She knew how to fight people, how to even kill people (she’d done it before). She’d shot a gun and fell off a building, she’d chased people and jumped down a hundred feet into freezing water. Her only friends were adults, she’d never even met another child before. No one really treated her like she was a kid. Humans at the DPD mostly treated her as just an android and other androids treated her like she was someone to be feared of (she didn’t blame them). Markus and the others treated her with respect, though, like she was simply another one of them. Hank was the only person who really treated her like a child, but only somewhat, like whenever he called her “kid” and they joked around.

She looked like a teenager. Without her LED in, she would pass as any other adolescent girl.

But she wasn’t a teenager. She didn’t feel like one. She remembered who she used to be, who she was now, and both those versions of herself didn’t seem very teenage-like.

Molly’s throat felt a little tight, which didn’t make sense since the shirt dipped down a little bit in the front, placing no restrictions on her neck. If she was wearing her old shirt, she would have adjusted her tie, or at this point, in private, she would have taken off her tie and undone the first two buttons.

A cold feeling washed over Molly as she continued staring at her reflection. This felt wrong, very wrong. She shouldn’t get new clothes, she shouldn’t even be wearing Hank’s clothes. She should go back to wearing her CyberLife uniform. Then she wouldn’t be pretending to be something that she wasn’t.

Right?

She wasn’t a teenager, she wasn’t an adult, she wasn’t a machine, she wasn’t a deviant.

Molly didn’t know what the hell she was.

Her head started feeling light as she suddenly felt very angry, very frustrated at everything, at the stupid mirror and the stupid clothes and stupid CyberLife. Too many thoughts were happening at once, it was just too much.

Molly’s legs gave out under her, but she still managed to drop to the ground silently with grace. She sat on her haunches, crossing her legs and looking down at her lap. She wanted her coin, but it was in her other pants and they were hanging on a hook on the wall, which meant she would have to stand up and get the quarter, and she definitely couldn’t do that. So, she gathered some of the jean fabric into her hands and squeezed tightly, not bothering to worry about whether or not she was creasing the material.

“Molly?” Hank’s voice cut through Molly’s thoughts. She jolted slightly at the interruption. “You coming out anytime soon?”

Oh. She didn’t realize how long she was taking. It had already been seven minutes, and all Molly had managed to do was try on one shirt and the pants. She swallowed—even though there was nothing to swallow, her saline solution only activated when she was stimulating her mouth—and blinked three times.

“Yes, one moment, please,” Molly said, her words fast and quiet. She should get up. It would be so easy just to stand up and try on the rest of the clothes. But she couldn’t. She could preconstruct herself getting up and putting on the other three shirts in barely three minutes, going back out and getting some more items and then leaving. But she couldn’t find the energy to do it.

“Uh, Molly?” Hank said her name again. “Are you sitting on the ground?”

“... maybe?” Molly clenched and unclenched the jean material in her hands. Hank must be able to see her under the door (why did there have to be a six inch break between the door and the floor?).

“Okay,” Hank said uncertainly. “Mind telling me why? The floor’s pretty fucking gross.”

It _was_ gross, it was dusty and glittery and Molly wished that she was at home, sitting on the couch and petting Sumo, where it was cleaner and calmer. She wanted to buy these clothes and also not buy them, to go back to her CyberLife outfit and never wear it again, to be a teenager and an adult.

There were so many thoughts running through Molly’s mind that the feeling of frustration just grew stronger as she felt like she couldn’t say it all at once. She opened her mouth to say something, anything, but all that came out was a high-pitched noise. _A_ _whimper_. She had never made a noise like that in her _life_.

“Molly, hey, what’s going on?” Hank quickly asked, voice full of concern over the sound that he had, too, never heard her make before. 

“There is… a lot going on right now,” Molly choked out, not being able to stop her voice from sounding so strained.

“What do you mean?”

Molly let go of the pants in fear of ripping them and held her hands together, squeezing. She closed her eyes and let a response leave her mouth almost subconsciously. “It seems that I am having too many thoughts occurring at once and it is difficult for me to organize them in a way so that I can properly function.”

A beat.

“Alright, uh… just take a deep breath, okay?” 

“Androids do not require to breathe,” Molly corrected, a small smile coming up on her face. Her breathing was simulated, and she hadn’t even started doing it until two days after meeting Hank. 

“You always gotta correct me, huh?” Hank asked. Molly huffed, the noise intended to be a laugh but she didn’t have enough air to really make the sound. “Just do it, Molly.”

Hank was right. She didn’t simulate her breathing to appear more human, but because it was a sort of comfort. She fixed her slumped posture, keeping her eyes shut, and breathed in slowly through her nose. Cool air flowed into her throat and chest, filling up her inner cavities. She held the breath for a second before letting it out slowly through her mouth. 

“Better?” Hank questioned. Molly hummed in response. The thoughts weren’t really gone, but she was able to gain enough energy to let go of her hands and reach up, grabbing her jeans off the wall. She pulled out her coin and started rolling it over her fingers, her eyes still screwed shut. “Try to only focus on what’s happening right now. Everything else doesn’t matter.”

Right now, she was playing with her coin, a 1994 U.S. quarter. She was trying on clothes, ones that she actually liked and wanted to buy. They fit her well and they were pretty. The shirt had flowers on it and Molly liked flowers.

Another deep breath.

“You wanna tell me what’s making you think too much? Is it the clothes?” Hank questioned. Molly hummed again. The clothes shouldn’t be a problem, but they were. Kind of.

“Okay. So, what’s wrong with them? They don’t look good or something?”

The clothes looked good. They were nice, Molly liked the clothes. The problem was what exactly they represented. Making her look so normal when she _wasn’t_.

“Hank,” Molly said, her voice coming back to her but not too strong, “can I be honest about something?”

“Shoot, kid.”

Molly was not going to tell him that she missed her CyberLife uniform. That was wrong, those clothes were bad, she knew that, she knew that she should move on. And she was, she really was trying to. She also was not going to tell him about her doubts of being a deviant, because she couldn’t tell anyone about that, not yet. Then, in a way, those things didn’t matter right now. What _did_ matter? Looking like someone that she wasn’t.

“I know what I am supposed to look like: a teenage girl. And these clothes… they really make me look like one. A _normal_ one.” Molly opened her eyes and looked back up at her reflection. “But I also know how I act, which is like an adult. I do not talk like other teenagers and I have done things that other teenagers cannot. I… I s-suppose, suppose, _suppose_ I am simply confused.”

CyberLife made her a teenager so that it would be easier to trust her and harder to recognize that she was a detective, but part of Molly wished that they hadn’t. If she was an adult and not a kid, it would make everything so much simpler.

“I mean, you’re sure as hell not like any kid I’ve ever known,” Hank said. Molly was tempted to come up with a sarcastic response, but decided not to. “But doing all the crazy things that you've done doesn't mean that you can't be a kid, still. And it’s not like you’re _always_ acting like an adult. Like when you’re messing around with Sumo or when you’re fucking with me about stuff like my great clothes.”

Molly laughed at that, most of the unnecessary air back in her.

“And being a deviant and feelings things for the first time kinda sounds like growing up. You’re experiencing things and all that, and that’s like something a kid would be going through.”

“That… actually makes a lot of sense.” Experiencing life for the first time was something a child would be going through. Maybe Molly was more like a teenager than she thought. 

Hank snorted. “You sound surprised. I am a police lieutenant, y’know.”

“No, no, it is not that. I am just surprised that I had not thought of that first.” Some kids were mature for their age, right? And all the YK models, it wasn’t like they weren’t automatically smart and skilled, more than other children. Molly was the only teenage android, but still. She stared at the clothes in the reflection. She looked like a teenager, but she wasn’t a normal teenager, but maybe that was okay.

A new thought crossed Molly’s mind at the mention of Hank’s job and she couldn’t stop herself from immediately voicing it.

“Do you think that my age is going to be a problem when I try to go back to work?” She hadn’t even thought about that. When she had been a detective, it hadn’t been a problem because herself and others saw her as just an android. How old she was supposed to look didn’t matter. But now… 

“If I’m being completely honest, I don't know, kid,” Hank answered. “But Fowler’s seen what you can do. Hell, I think most of the DPD has seen what you can do. You’re a better detective than most of those guys’ll ever be.

Because she was _built_ to be a detective, but Molly tried to push away that thought.

“We’ll figure it out on Monday,” Hank said. Not a definitive yes or no, which was reasonable in Molly’s opinion. The police had been fine with her being there before, and even though things were different now, who knew?

Molly took another deep breath and finally found the energy to stand back up. She put her coin back in her other pair of jeans before brushing off the back of the pants she was currently wearing. She turned around and opened the door.

“How do I look?” She asked Hank, keeping a hand on the door. Hank looked down at her a little and smiled.

“Good. Like yourself.”

Molly smiled, too.

* * *

In the end, Molly had ended up spending two hundred, eighty-four dollars and eighty-two cents. She had gotten four other floral button-downs besides the ones she had brought to the dressing room, two other pairs of jeans, four multi-colored tie-dye, cotton shirts to wear to sleep, two pairs of tie-dye pajama pants, two pairs of tie-dye pajama shorts, two other pairs of pajama shorts (one had little drawings blue and green fish and the other had illustrations of various dog breeds, how could she _not_ get them?), three bras, and ten pairs of underwear. She had also gotten various colored hair ties and hair clips, since she wanted to try and style her hair differently sometimes. And she had ended up getting a new jacket, a light brown, corduroy one that had two pockets in the front. It was soft and collared, and it felt nice to have a jacket again. And she had also gotten a new pair of shoes, knit, grey ones that she couldn’t resist getting because the sole was a gradient, rainbow color.

Hank had cleared out the closet in the hallway, which had already been mostly empty, and they put Molly’s new clothes in there. Everything was hung up and folded neatly, organized by use and color-coded.

Her CyberLife uniform remained stored away in one of the drawers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Molly feels more comfortable with herself.
> 
> OKAY. okay. so, i kinda owe an explanation for why this took longer than expected. i have depression, and it had gotten really bad this summer, and i only really had energy to write this and stuff like that. but, i had summer assignments for school that i had due last week, so it was really hard for me to force myself to do them, but i did!! and then i felt really tired this week, and i had to take a test, blah blah blah. point is, school is starting again, but im still gonna devote time to this, or fucking die doing so. im doing online school and my depression has gotten a little better, so yeah. also, WHAT THE FUCK we are almost at 500 hits!!! THANK YOU!
> 
> warren's statement is from "march of progress" by Calamitatum. i couldn't imagine a more perfect way of her speech, so go and read their fic, it's one of the best dbh ones i've ever read!!
> 
> come and talk to me on tumblr about dbh, especially hank and connor and reed900: [@mollyinthewater](https://mollyinthewater.tumblr.com)


	13. You've Changed (Kinda)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Molly visits the android leaders at Carl Manfred's house.
> 
> song of the chapter: monday by jonathan eng featuring stephanie hladowski

Molly fiddled with the cuffs of her jacket, the soft, tan fabric leaving a pleasant sensation on her synthetic skin, as soft hums escaped her. Once the cuffs looked right, she placed her hands on her lap, twiddling with her fingers as she looked out the window of the Oldsmobile. There were people crowding the sidewalks, all bundled up in jackets and sweaters, walking and talking to each other as if everyday life hadn’t been completely changed throughout the past couple of days.

She spotted a few androids among the citizens, their LEDs removed and either by themselves or with another android. It was a little disheartening to see androids so secluded, even if it was by their own choice. It was still early, though, so it wasn’t very surprising to the RK800.

“Holy shit,” Molly heard Hank breathe out over the quiet jazz music playing on the radio. She turned to the left to face him but her eyes immediately caught the reason why he had said that right in front of her.

Carl Manfred’s house, or rather, Carl Manfred and Markus’ house.

Well, _mansion_ was a better descriptor.

There were pretty topiaries and trees surrounding the driveway, Molly analyzing the plants as Hank drove up the driveway and towards the giant house. It was absolutely beautiful, somewhat reminding Molly of when she and Hank had gone to Elijah Kamski’s house. Though, his house had been a lot more gaudy and modern. This house was much simpler and of an older style, but more regal and elegant, in a way. 

“This guy’s pretty well-off, huh?” Hank asked as the car came to a stop. Molly stared at the house, her eyes like saucers.

“Markus had told me that the house he had lived in with Mr. Manfred was nice, but I did not think it was… like this,” Molly said, gesturing towards the house ahead of them. A smile came across her face as she took in every detail she could find. “Wow.”

Hank opened the car door to get out and Molly did the same, the sunlight shining brightly on her as she stepped out of the car. Almost too brightly, the android noticed as she shut the car door and squinted towards the sky. A quick check reassured her that there was nothing wrong with her eyes, the sensitivity at its normal levels, but the strong illumination made her uncomfortable enough to consider turning down the sensitivity. However, she just blinked a few times and turned away from the sky, trying to force her eyes to adjust to the change in lighting as the front door of the house opened.

“Molly?” Markus asked, a curious and almost confused look on his face. Molly looked at the RK200, still squinting the tiniest bit and her lips curling up into a large smile. He was no longer wearing his outfit from the revolution, with his long coat and boots. Instead, he was wearing a navy blue sweater and a dark pair of jeans, wearing nice but simple tennis shoes. With his LED gone, he looked like any other person. _Normal_. Molly wondered if that was how she looked now, even with her LED still in.

“Markus,” Molly said happily as she walked up to the RK200, Hank right behind her. “It is nice to see you again.”

“You, too,” Markus replied, a small smile coming across his face as he took in Molly’s new appearance. “You’ve changed… a lot.” His smile grew larger as his heterochromic eyes met Molly’s green ones. “You look great.”

“Thank you,” Molly said, laughing slightly as her hands grabbed hold of her long sleeves. Markus turned his attention towards Hank, who was standing to the left of Molly.

“And this must be Lieutenant Anderson,” the leader said, holding out his right hand to the human. “It’s good to finally meet you, Lieutenant.” 

Hank let out a little scoff as he looked between Markus and Molly. “Jeez, are all you guys always this formal?” He asked before he grabbed Markus’ hand and shook it, a friendly half-smile on his face. “Just call me Hank.”

“Of course, Hank,” Markus said, nodding before he let go of Hank’s hand. “Molly’s already told us all about you.”

“You have?” Hank questioned, crossing his arms over his chest and giving Molly a pointed look as he raised an eyebrow.

“All good things,” Molly quickly said, smiling innocently as she put her arms behind her back and held onto her left wrist. That was only somewhat true, since she had slightly described how she and Hank hadn’t really gotten along at first, but she hadn’t gone into great detail (or told them about what had happened at the bridge after the Eden Club).

“She’s right,” Markus said, waving a hand. “You’ve helped us a great deal, especially Molly. We appreciate everything that you’ve done for us.” Molly’s right hand squeezed her left wrist as she stood up straighter, nearly beaming. It was nice to hear someone recognize how much Hank had done for not only her, but android kind. Without him helping deviate her and saving her at the CyberLife tower, the revolution could have failed. Molly might have remained a machine and stopped the revolution or her double could have succeeded in her mission in stopping Molly from helping the revolution win.

There were so many ways that everything could have gone so wrong due to Molly’s actions—she had seen all the preconstructions of all the possible failures. Hank had really helped her so much and she would be forever grateful for that. 

“Oh.” Hank cleared his throat. “Well, uh… you’re welcome? I just did what anyone else would’ve done.” Hank shrugged, furrowing his eyebrows. 

“Maybe, for an android, but most humans didn’t show our people much kindness before,” Markus explained, his face taking on an earnest look. “Even now, after everything that’s happened. So, thank you.”

Molly looked at Hank, catching a glimpse of what seemed like guilt in his eyes. She immediately knew what he was thinking: how he had once been one of those humans who weren’t that nice towards androids. Molly didn’t think that he had ever done anything directly to hurt her kind—Hank was a good person, he always had been—but she knew the way he thought of androids before they had met and even during the first few days of their partnership.

She hoped that she was mistaken and that Hank didn’t feel bad about all of that, or if he did, he didn’t feel too guilty. He didn’t deserve to feel that way. He had had good reason to dislike her kind and he had been in a bad place for the past few years. It wasn’t his fault.

“Yeah, sorry about that,” Hank awkwardly said, perhaps feeling guilty about how his kind had acted in the past towards androids. Molly knew of some retaliation at the moment, too, by humans towards the sudden acceptance of androids, but she wasn’t too keen on the details of everything. Though, she already had the thought that how humans were behaving right now was probably one of the reasons why Markus had called her over. “Some humans are just assholes.” 

Markus chuckled at that statement. “I prefer to think that they’re misinformed. Acceptance takes time and patience, I understand that.” 

“Don’t I know it,” Hank muttered, breathing out a laugh. Molly glanced at Hank, her smile faltering the tiniest bit as she made eye contact with his light blue irises. Her chest felt strange and almost weighted as she smiled kindly at the lieutenant, the concern in her eyes nearly betraying her smile. He gave her a small smile in return before looking back at Markus.

“Well, guess I’ll leave you guys to it,” Hank said, his tone a little lighter. “You kids have fun with your… politics,” he uncertaintly said before turning towards Molly. “Just text me and I’ll come and pick you up.”

Molly nodded, taking a small breath as the weight from her chest somewhat lifted. 

“It was nice meeting you, Hank,” Markus complimented as Hank began to turn towards his car.

“You, too,” Hank responded before saying a small “bye” to Molly, the young android quickly saying one in return before the human got into his car and drove off. As Hank pulled out onto the street, a weird feeling came across Molly as she realized that this was the first time she was going to be without Hank ever since they had met up at Chicken Feed.

And it wasn’t like that was a problem. Obviously it wasn’t. It just felt like Molly had to be adapting from one situation to the next. From always being around Hank to being without him. From always taking orders to being her own person. From feeling nothing to feeling everything.

“I would’ve offered him to come inside,” Markus began speaking, interrupting Molly’s thoughts and she turned to face him, “but I wasn’t too sure if he and North should meet yet. She might want to ask him some rather intense questions.”

Molly laughed at that, releasing her wrist and bringing her hands to her sides. “That is okay, it makes sense.”

Markus smiled at her, the outer corners of his eyes crinkling like a human’s would, before he turned around and opened the door, holding it open for Molly. She breathed in slightly through her nose, her shoulders moving up a bit in return before she walked into the house.

Her new shoes made nearly mute footsteps against the beautifully patterned tile floor as Molly looked around the house. The inside was definitely more modern than the outside, with bright paintings here and there on the cream and wooden walls and a multicolored rug on top of the stairs to the right. It was nicely lit in the house, the room being illuminated mostly by sunlight from the large windows and the chandelier hung from the ceiling.

Molly heard the door softly close behind her as she observed everything she could, her eyes landing on a golden birdcage on a small wooden table against the left side of the wall next to a door. She walked over to it, leaning ever so slightly forward and examining the two birds moving about within the cage. They were bright yellow canaries with white wings and tails, a light blue LED on their right temples, just like Molly.

It was different to see android animals since Molly had never been in contact with any before, but she was still fascinated by them nonetheless. 

“I didn’t know you liked animals so much,” Markus said, breaking the silence. He walked over to Molly, doing the same as her and looking at the birds. “I should’ve guessed by the way you had talked about the lieutenant’s dog.”

A bright smile came up on Molly’s face at the mention of Sumo as she glanced between Markus and the birds. “I have not had much experience with animals besides Sumo, but I believe I like dogs.” She stared at the soft feathers on the birds, knowing that they would feel exactly the same as any other bird. “And fish,” she added before immediately asking, “Do they have names?”

“That one,” Markus said, gesturing at the bird at the bottom of the cage, “is Marco. The other one,” he said, gesturing now to the canary on the little perch hanging from the top of the cage, “is Bello.”

Molly hummed in response, doing a quick search of Marco Bello, assuming that it was a name. Apparently, he was a painter, which made the names not a very surprising choice to the girl due to Carl Manfred’s career. 

Markus, too, seemed to enjoy painting by the way he had talked about it a few days ago, when Molly was still with the others right after the revolution. He had discussed how Carl had instructed him to paint not just any picture but “something he had never seen.” A way to express a creativity that Markus wasn’t aware that he had. That he shouldn’t have had, but found a way to it despite that.

Painting seemed interesting to Molly but she could not imagine herself doing something like that, something so open and creative.

Marco flew up to the perch, resting right next to Bello as the doors right ahead of the two RK-models slid open swiftly. 

“I thought I heard you come back inside,” Mr. Manfred said to Markus, rolling his wheelchair over to where the two androids were standing. Molly fixed her posture at the new presence, Mr. Manfred’s blue eyes landing on her as he gave her a kind smile. “You must be another one of Markus’ friends.”

Molly smiled back at him, nodding as she held her hands in front of her and Markus walked up to the right side of her.

“Dad, this is Molly,” Markus introduced her. Molly made a mental note of Markus calling Mr. Manfred “Dad.” Did he always refer to him like that when he was speaking to him? Or were the terms interchangeable still? “She’s the one who helped us that night.”

“Ah, right,” Mr. Manfred quietly said, as if recalling a previous conversation where Markus had told his father all about the RK800. “The young detective.”

Molly’s breathing almost stuttered for a moment at the word. She had nearly thought that he had been going to say something like “the deviant hunter,” which was stupid. She didn’t know why she had thought that. 

“Former detective for the moment,” Molly said, her smile becoming a little awkward as she pushed some strand of hair on the right side of her face behind her ear. “It is nice to meet you, Mr. Manfred. You have a very beautiful home.” She looked to the left as she talked, staring at a gorgeous painting of a shadowy figure among various shades of blues, purples and reds.

“Thank you,” Mr. Manfred said. “Markus’ additions have certainly livened up the place.”

Molly froze for a moment, glancing at Mr. Manfred and then Markus, her eyebrows furrowing. “You… you _made_ that?” She asked, looking back at the painting. Markus smiled proudly yet sheepishly at the same time.

“A few days ago, once we finally had the chance to relax,” Markus explained, staring at the painting as well. “This whole time one of the things I had been looking forward to the most was doing something that _I_ wanted to do, something that wasn’t as stressful as leading a revolution,” he joked. “Like painting again.”

Something that Markus had _wanted_ _to do._ Molly glanced down at her button-down shirt, ditzy, light pink flowers against an off-white base. What had she wanted to do after the revolution was over? After she had finally realized that she could be free?

Well, the simple answer was to see Hank. 

That was the simple answer and the only answer she could think of.

“Hey, is she—” North said, walking through the doors that Mr. Manfred had just come through. Molly looked up at her, smiling.

“Hello, North,” Molly greeted the WR400, her strawberry-blonde hair in a ponytail and shining thanks to the light from outside. North looked at her curiously, a surprised smile coming across her face as she stood to the left of Mr. Manfred.

“Hey, look at you! Out of your uniform and everything,” she said, placing a hand on her left hip. Her dark brown eyes looked at Molly’s hair, the two almost the same color. “I like the hair.”

“Thank you,” Molly said, a swell of pride appearing in her chest. Changing so much of herself had been the right thing to do, she knew that. And it wasn’t like she didn’t like the new clothes, she adored them. She made sure not to mention that her old clothes were still at Hank’s house for the moment.

North nodded, peering behind Molly and Markus and towards the front door. “So, is the _lieutenant_ with you? I was thinking about talking to him.”

“I told you,” Markus said to Molly before turning towards his girlfriend, a smirk on his face. “You were planning on interrogating him, weren’t you?” 

“I wouldn’t call it ‘interrogating,’” North defended herself, shrugging. “I just wanted to ask him a few questions.”

“Like the questions you asked me?” Mr. Manfred asked, an amused grin on his face. 

“ _You_ I wasn’t too worried about,” North said, glancing at the older man before looking one last time towards the door. 

“He already left,” Markus said. “You’ll have to wait until later to give him the third degree.” Mr. Manfred let out a breathy chuckle at that, Molly teetering back and forth on her heels the slightest bit. There would be no escape from North’s questioning once Hank came back to drive Molly back to his house, so the young girl could only hope that the questions wouldn’t be so bad. Though, she knew that North was just being protective of her, and Molly was grateful for that.

“Fine,” North sighed out before looking back at Molly. “C’mon, Simon and Josh are waiting for us,” she said, nodding her head towards the doors behind her before turning around and walking through them. Carl did the same, Markus soon following. Molly looked one last time at the painting and the birds before following the others.

Molly slowly walked into the living room, looking around towards the upper level, the fancy gold railing above, and a large statue of a giraffe in the corner of the room before looking right ahead of her at Josh and Simon.

“Molly,” Josh said, standing up off the bright red couch facing her, a duplicate of that couch right in front of her and facing the wall. 

“Hey,” Simon greeted her, turning to face her where he was standing right next to where Josh was sitting. The two gave her friendly smiles and she gave them one in return. Just like Markus, the other three leaders were now wearing much simpler outfits, with Simon wearing a pair of black pants and a light blue short-sleeve shirt, Josh wearing dark jeans similar to Markus’ and a deep purple short-sleeve shirt, and North wearing a pair of black leggings and a light red sweatshirt. It was nearly strange to see them in such casual clothing, since it made them look, like Molly had noted before, so _normal_.

“I’ll be in the studio if you need me,” Mr. Manfred said to Markus, who gave him a small “Okay,” before heading towards the right side of the room, where there was a door that Molly assumed led to the studio. 

Molly looked at the wall to her right as Mr. Manfred left the room, staring at all the books on the bookshelves against the wall. She could practically feel her LED spinning a bright yellow as she tried to scan them all.

“You have so many books,” Molly softly said as information was popping up in front of her eyes: titles, authors, dates, summaries. A lot of them were classics, like a book of Shakespeare’s sonnets, and about philosophy, like Plato’s _Republic_. They interested her greatly and she felt tempted to go and pluck one right off the shelf.

“Too many,” Markus responded. “I’ve lived here for three years and I still haven’t managed to read all of them.” North walked over to where Simon and Josh were as Markus asked Molly, “You like to read?”

“Mhm!” Molly hummed in response, turning around and facing Markus. “Lieutenant—uh, _Hank_ has many books at his house. There has not been much for me to do lately so I have read some of them. Seven to be exact.” 

Reading was very enjoyable and Molly had found out that it was much better to read books the way Hank had told her to after he’d found out that she practically scanned the information off the pages. Instead, she took her time reading the words one by one and even though she wasn’t programmed to be able to do it, it was like she could see the scenes play out in her head and hear the people talking.

It was different, that was for sure. 

“It’s nice to hear that you found something you like to do,” North said, sitting down on the arm rest of the sofa. “Sounds like things are already going a lot smoother for you.”

“I would like to think so,” Molly said, smiling widely. It did feel like things were getting better, at least in comparison to a few days ago when she was newly deviant. She still was newly deviant, but less so, and like North said, the RK800 was starting to find things that she liked to do: reading, petting Sumo, cooking, watching movies with Hank. 

That all seemed like the easy part, though. Molly liked a lot of things, which was great, but there was still so much more to deviancy that she was still getting used to. 

Like all the emotions.

“I wish we could say the same for everyone else,” Josh spoke up, crossing his arms. 

“This is a dramatic change for humanity,” Simon said. “It will still take awhile for everything to cool down.”

North scoffed at that, shaking her head but remaining silent. Molly turned to Markus, giving him a puzzled look before looking at Simon.

“Are you referring to the protests?” Molly asked, having the temptation to take out her coin but restraining herself from doing so. She glanced out the large windows on the wall for a moment, catching sight of the lavish garden outside. The sun shone brightly, nearly directly into Molly’s eyes, so she finally turned down her sensitivity levels by ten percent, her uncomfortableness somewhat faded away. “I did not realize that they were this big of a problem.”

She had heard mention of protests on the news, humans retaliating outside government buildings and corners of the streets within populated cities. It wasn’t like they had been that much of a surprise but Molly hadn’t heard too many bad things about the protests. Then again, she hadn’t been paying that close attention to them, either. Maybe she should have been.

“We’d expected a reaction like this,” Markus said, crossing his arms as a contemplated look appeared on his face. “Humans have protested against changes in their lives throughout history, I understand that. And it’s like Simon said, it’ll take some time for the outrages to stop.” He paused for a second, looking at an uneven stack of books atop a glass container of statuettes and such in front of him. The book on the top of the stack had a cover full of large white letters, reading off _Beyond Good and Evil._

“But it’s more than just simple demonstrations. Humans are lashing out, damaging cars and buildings around them,” Markus continued, looking over at Molly. She found herself the tiniest bit unnerved by his intense stare and stood up straighter, if that was even possible with her already perfect posture. “And androids.”

“We’ve already received reports of eleven different attacks in the Detroit area,” Josh said, his face stricken with clear uneasiness. “We’ve been trying to urge androids to stay indoors as much as they can, but not everyone wants to listen to us.”

“Our people shouldn’t have to be confined in buildings,” North contradicted, a fire being lit in her deep brown eyes. “They shouldn’t be the ones being punished for the humans’ wrongdoings.”

“Of course they shouldn’t,” Josh readily agreed with the WR400, “but for now, we don’t have any other choice but to tell them that if it’s not safe for them be going out in the open.”

“And that’s where our problem lies,” Markus said. “It’s no surprise that our people don’t feel exactly safe at the moment with everything that’s going on, and with these attacks happening, the police haven’t been doing much to help.”

“More like they haven’t been doing anything at all,” North added, her tone bitter. 

“And even if they did start helping us,” Simon spoke up, “most androids are afraid of trusting them. They still see the police as another enemy that’s ready to protect humans rather than androids.” 

“Well, I can help with that,” Molly said, brushing a strand of dark brown hair behind her right ear. The four androids looked at her as she gave them all a friendly smile. “Once I go back to the police station on Monday, I can try to talk to some officers about being of assistance. I am sure that I could find a few that would be willing to help.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” North said, waving a hand. “‘Go back to the police station?’”

“Mhm,” Molly hummed, nodding her head. “I am going to see if I can become a detective. Again,” she explained, a nervous laugh escaping her. “Though I am unsure if it will be possible now due to my age, I still want to try.”

North huffed out a laugh as the others remained silent, seeming nearly unsure of what to say. “But why would you wanna go back there?”

Molly’s smile fell slightly as her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Why _wouldn’t_ she want to go back there? She was a detective before the revolution, so wouldn’t it make sense for her to be one still? And it wasn’t like there was anything else she could really do. She was made to be a detective, she knew how to be one. It just felt like the right thing to do.

“What North means is that we’re just…” Markus started talking, glancing between North and Molly, “surprised. We, uh, didn’t know that you’d want to be a detective still, after everything that’s happened.”

“I understand,” the RK800 said, holding her hands together and playing slightly with her fingers. Like she had thought about the other day, she knew that most androids wouldn’t want to go back to their previous careers. But this was different.

Molly was different.

“It just seems like the right thing,” Molly continued, speaking somewhat slowly. “I liked being a detective, so I want to be one again, if I can.” 

It was the complete truth. Molly had never “liked” being a detective when she had been one, she had never thought about her job that much. And even then, when she had been a detective, she had been chasing deviants, trying to locate Markus, trying to stop deviancy and…

But it would be different this time, Molly knew it would be. No more “deviant hunter.” Just her. As a detective. One that could really help people this time.

“We understand,” Simon said in a friendly tone, the others staying quiet. Molly looked at him gratefully, but didn’t miss the conflicted look on North’s face. “But just know that you can always try to… do something different. Just because you were a detective before doesn’t mean that you can’t be something else in the future.”

Molly nodded in agreement, squeezing her right forefinger. 

“Even if you do manage to find some police officers that can help us,” Josh started speaking, “most androids still won’t trust them. Like with the humans, it’s too early for all androids to be trusting them so easily.”

“Exactly,” North agreed as Molly looked down at the light brown wooden floor in thought. “You never know whose side they could _really_ be on.”

“Then how about androids?” Molly asked, looking back up at the four leaders. “We could find a few androids that could act as police in a way.”

“Like a… a neighborhood watch?” Markus said, an inquisitive look and a slight smile on his face.

“Yes,” Molly said. “They could be called to help protect androids in trouble, at least until the real police arrived.”

“And they could record everything, too,” Simon added. “That way we wouldn’t have to worry about the humans’ words overtaking ours.”

“That could actually work,” Josh said, smiling.

“Of course it could,” North agreed, an excited look on her face. “Who could protect us better than ourselves?”

* * *

Two hours later, it wasn’t as bright outside as Molly and the others walked out of the house, a large cloud covering up the bright sun. The young girl took a deep breath of the cold, fresh air, her green eyes sparkling in the natural light.

Markus, North, Simon, and Josh were to meet up with some government officials this weekend, most likely including President Warren, and to speak more about the situation with androids. The four had hope that they could figure out some ways to protect androids more and to start taking steps in the direction for android rights, however little they may be, and that hopefully they could be given a designated building that would be the New Jericho, where androids could live in instead of homeless shelters.

The sound of a car motor broke the comfortable silence between the androids as Hank drove up the driveway to take Molly back to his house. It had felt strange to be without Hank after barely leaving his side the past few days, but Molly was happy to have spent time with the leaders. They were supportive (enough) of her decision to go back to being a detective and she was grateful for that.

“Be gentle with him, North,” Markus quietly said to his girlfriend as Hank parked the car. A nervous energy overcame Molly at the thought of what questions North was about to ask the human. She knew that they probably wouldn’t be too invasive. Hopefully. “He seems like a good person.”

“I’ll be the judge of that,” North sternly said back. “And I _am_ gentle,” she added before saying under her breath, “Asshole.”

“Hey!” Markus exclaimed, laughing as North smirked at him mischievously. Though, her expression became more neutral and nearly offensive as Hank got out of the car and walked over to the five. 

“Hi, Hank,” Molly greeted the man, smiling. She began tugging on the edges of her sleeves again, enjoying the texture of the material as Hank smiled back. Though, Molly could tell that he certainly noticed North’s hard stare—or more like a glare, really—at him.

“Hey, kid,” Hank said back as he stood in front of her, putting his hands in the pockets of his coat. She could see his breath coming out in small, white puffs into the air. “Didn’t miss me too much, did you?” 

Molly laughed at that, glancing between the human and the light gray concrete beneath her. “No.”

“Hank, this is North, Simon, and Josh,” Markus introduced the three leaders, Simon and Josh giving Hank friendly smiles as North’s face remained blank. 

“Nice to meet you all,” Hank greeted them, giving them a small wave. Molly glanced to her right, looking at North as the older android appeared to be sizing up Hank. She crossed her arms over her chest and squinted her eyes at him.

“You’re a police lieutenant, right?” North asked, her tone hard and serious. “Then I’m sure you won’t mind me asking you a few questions.”

“Uh… I guess not?” Hank answered confusedly. Markus gently grabbed the upper part of North’s right arm, and Molly knew that if the pair still had their LEDs in, they would be blinking rapidly. She could tell that Markus must have been telling North to go easy on Hank.

“So,” North started, Markus letting go of her arm, “I heard you have bad drinking habits.”

All hope flew out the window. North was most definitely, completely not going easy on Hank.

“North,” Markus said quickly in a sobering voice, as if warning her to not take that road, as Josh grimaced at her choice of words and Simon breathed out an “Oh god.” Hank’s face fell slightly at the statement, looking completely unsure as to how to respond to that.

“North!” Molly quietly exclaimed, turning to her right to face North with her wide green eyes. Of all things to be brought up in this conversation, Hank’s “bad drinking habits” were definitely up there on the “do not mention” list. Sure, Molly had mentioned Hank’s alcoholic tendencies to the leaders a few days ago, but that was _not_ something that should just be so openly talked about, especially out of nowhere.

“What?” North asked, knitting her eyebrows together and giving Molly a look as if saying, “I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Uh, hey, no, it’s… fine,” Hank awkwardly said, clearing his throat. North looked back at him, as if waiting for an answer. “Yeah, it’s true, I’ve, uh… definitely drank more alcohol in the past few years than in my whole life,” he answered, joking slightly.

Molly felt _horrible_ , her shoulders scrunching up the slightest bit. She never meant for something like this to happen, and she just wanted this interrogation to be over already.

“But I’m trying to drink less,” Hank continued, a half-smile on his face. “Molly’s, uh, helping me with that.”

“Oh, so you’re her responsibility?” North questioned, leaning to the right slightly. “You know our revolution happened so that androids _didn’t_ have to slave over humans anymore, right?” She asked in an accusatory voice.

“Woah, woah, hey, she doesn’t do anything like that, no way in hell,” Hank said, looking the tiniest bit offended. “Anything Molly does, she does because she wants to, not the other way around.”

“North,” Molly repeated the older android’s name, this time letting go of the cuffs of her sleeve as to reach out and grab on lightly to North’s left sleeve. “Please stop this,” the brunette whispered out. She couldn’t stand to see Hank be talked to this way, even if North was just doing it to protect her.

“I—” North looked over at Molly, cutting herself off as she made eye contact with her. She let out a frustrated sigh, shaking her head before looking away. “Fine.”

“But one more question,” North said, looking back at Hank. “Are you a good person? And you better answer honestly, I know when people are lying to me.”

Hank stared back at her, his jaw tightening a little as huffed slightly. Molly felt ready to go ahead and answer the question for him—a definite yes would be the correct answer—but Hank started talking.

“Alright, look, I…” Hank started speaking, looking a little uncomfortable but still going on to answer the question nonetheless. “I’ve done shitty things in the past, and I’m not… gonna try to make up excuses for them because there are none. But I’m trying to be better.” Hank looked away for a second and shrugged. “I mean, that’s all I can do at this point, right?”

North’s expression softened a bit at Hank’s words as she turned to Molly.

“Do you trust him?” North asked. 

Molly looked into North’s eyes, an earnest expression overcoming her face as she said, “Yes.”

North hummed and looked back over at Hank. “Well, I guess that’s good enough, then,” she told him, and Molly felt the tension in her shoulders leave. “For now.” 

“Yes, I believe it is,” Markus said, no bite in his tone as he cut off North from saying whatever threat she was about to say to Hank. “Thank you again for being here, Molly. Please feel free to come back again soon.”

“Of course,” Molly agreed, looking over at the RK200 and forcing a smile to come up on her face as she nodded. “I will talk to you all soon.”

The androids said their goodbyes to the RK800 as she and Hank began to walk away, getting into the car and Hank driving out of the driveway and into the street. Molly stayed silent as she held her hands together in her lap. She could feel the cold still attacking her face but the sensation caused her no pain, if anything just a little bit of uncomfortableness—not like she wasn’t already uncomfortable from what had just happened.

“So,” Hank started talking, Molly looking over at the man nervously, “‘bad drinking habits?’”

Molly’s eyes widened, her chest rising as she breathed in deeply. She had expected no less than Hank questioning her in some way about that and she couldn’t stop herself as words began to pour out of her from shame.

“Hank, I am so, so sorry, I only _barely_ mentioned your–your drinking tendencies, and I had no i–idea that any of them would mention that, especially to you, and North, she—”

“Woah, kid, hey,” Hank interrupted the girl, his light blue eyes glancing over at her guilty expression. “Don’t blue screen or anything on me, I was just messing with you.”

Molly took a deep breath, looking away in realization. “Oh.”

“Yeah,” Hank said, before adding, “Well, kinda,” shooting Molly a playful look. 

Her eyes darted back to him as he gave out a laugh. “Kidding, I’m kidding, Molly.” The RK800 let out a relieved breath, rubbing a hand over her face.

“I am still sorry,” she quietly told him. She really was, even if Hank was taking it so well.

“Trust me, it’s alright. And I’ve had worse shit said to me.” Hank shrugged, smirking as if that was something to be proud of.

“That does not make me feel better, Hank,” Molly said. He snorted at that.

“Yeah, I figured.” The car came to a stop at a red light and Hank looked over at the android. “I know that girl’s just trying to protect you. I could tell by the whole ‘fuck up once and I’ll kill you’ look she was giving me.” Molly let out a breathy laugh, shaking her head.

“I know that North can be a bit straightforward—”

“Aggressive.”

“ _Abrasive_ ,” Molly settled on, a smile coming up on her face. “North can be a bit abrasive, but she really does have good intentions. It is like you said, she just wants me to be with someone safe since I am not staying with them.”

Hank nodded understandingly before a thoughtful and puzzled look came across his face. “Why _aren’t_ you staying with them?”

Molly stared back at him in silence for a moment.

“What?”

The light turned green and Hank looked back at the road, going back to driving. “Well, if she’s worried about you being safe and all, I’m sure they offered you to stay with them, right?” 

Molly froze, looking away from Hank and more towards the glovebox in front of her. What was she supposed to say? That she was afraid of living with them because she could hurt them? Then why would Hank ever want to live with her if she was a threat to him, too?

“I…” Molly breathed out, holding her hands together and squeezing. “Yes, they did. Offer me, um, to stay with them.”

“Then why didn’t you say yes?” Hank asked, seeming less suspicious and more curious as to why. Molly knew she couldn’t make up an excuse about wanting to just stay with Hank, she had practically told him no, too, when he offered for her to stay with him. And she hated the idea of lying to him (not telling him something was one thing but truly lying to his face was another).

“I just…” Molly squeezed her hands tighter, almost surprised that her synthetic skin hadn’t peeled away from her tight grip. Maybe she could just tell him a little bit of the truth? Somewhat? There was truly no good excuse that she could come up with for refusing the leaders’ offer, so she just had to go with the half-truth. “I believed that it would not be the best choice for me to stay with them, since… since they are the leaders.”

Hank glanced away from the road to shoot Molly a confused look. “What do you mean?”

“Well, _they_ are the leaders, and due to my…” Oh god, there was truly no good way for her to say this, was there? “Reputation, um… I did not think that many androids would appreciate me staying with them.”

“Your reputation?” Hank echoed, still looking quite confused. 

“My reputation… of being the—” Molly cut herself off. She could not say that out loud, she could not just tell Hank about how she was called “the deviant hunter” by her kind, and by most of them still. “Of chasing deviants.”

Hank stayed silent for a moment before glancing back over at Molly, his eyebrows knit together. “So you’re saying, what, that androids don’t like you because of what you were programmed to do?”

Yes. Most definitely yes.

But when Hank said it like that, Molly understood how it didn’t make much sense to him, but it made total sense to her. It was different. _She was different._

“I am just saying that I believe they would have been uncomfortable with it,” Molly quickly replied, still looking away. The car went quiet for a moment before she heard Hank breathe out a laugh, looking back at him as the car came to a stop at another red light.

“No offense, Molly, but that sounds like a bunch of bullshit,” Hank told the android, his expression friendlier than she had expected it to be. “That’s not who you are, and those androids should be smart enough to realize that. You were just doing what you were told, you didn’t know any better.”

But it was so much _more_ than that. Molly should have tried to deviate so much sooner, she should have realized that what she was doing was wrong so much sooner. It was her fault that she scared so many deviants, her fault that Jericho was attacked, her fault that so many androids _died_.

“... Maybe.” Molly could see the reflection of her LED spinning a sunshine yellow in the mirror. She knew that Hank must have seen it, too, but he chose not to comment on it. “It does not change the fact that some androids are still… afraid of me, though.”

A look of concern flashed across Hank’s face before he gave Molly a smile and reached over to her, ruffling her hair. “How the hell could anybody be afraid of you? You’re like the android version of a dog.”

Molly laughed slightly as she began to relax a bit more, fixing her hair after Hank pulled away. A memory popped into her head at the mention of her being a dog and she smiled at Hank. “Like a poodle?”

“What?” Hank questioned for a second before laughing, remembering, too, how at Chicken Feed that second day of knowing each other he had compared Molly to a poodle. “Actually, I was wrong, you’re more like a golden retriever.”

The RK800 hummed at that, a smile still on her face as she looked away from Hank and out the window, the sun still covered by a cloud in the sky. Golden retrievers were loyal, intelligent, and ~~obedient~~ playful.

Molly looked away from the window as the car started moving again.

* * *

by the way, in case you don't have a tumblr (or don't follow me), here's a commission drawing of molly done by the wonderful [@mimorugk](https://mimorugk.tumblr.com) on tumblr!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow, i haven't seen you in so long, how have you been? crazy election, huh? damn, and that weather, am i right?
> 
> sjkfhsdkh i'm so sorry.
> 
> words can't really express how guilty i feel. i wish i was joking. i truly feel so shitty for not having updated this in three months. i don't want to try and excuse my behavior, but i am going to say that these last three months have been absolutely horrible for me. school started and it just completely killed me. i'm in a gifted program at my school and there's so much work, and due to covid, the teachers are super unorganized and never meet with each other, so i'll have three assignments due and four tests all in the same week. my depression didn't get as bad as it was in the summer, but it's still there and it didn't really get better. i am frequently stressed and i started having mental breakdowns once a week, sometimes a few days in a row.
> 
> in the end of september, i finally came to the conclusion that i needed to quit, so i will be dropping out of this stupid program and going into a different one that is going to be so, so much better for me. sadly, since i choose to do this halfway through the semester, it was too late for me to switch, so i have to wait until the beginning of january. but at this point i only have three weeks left!
> 
> so yeah, i am feeling a little better when it comes to my mental health in correlation to school, especially since i only have like three weeks left to suffer through this shitshow of an educational program. i have some days where i can do almost nothing and other days where i have to work my ass off, so it's both good and bad, but the bad is too horrible for me to bear much longer. and since it was thanksgiving break for me and i got the whole week off, i couldn't not write, i couldn't not take advantage of this opportunity.
> 
> so i'm back.
> 
> i had just about had no time nor energy to write, but like i said, things are going to change in january, and i am starting to feel better. i never, ever want to give this story up, so please don't ever worry about little hiatuses like this, i will always come back. hopefully i can get the next chapter out sometime in december, especially since winter break is only three weeks away, and that's basically two weeks off.
> 
> once again, i'm not trying to excuse by long absence, but i had to tell you all why. i'm so sorry again for being gone for so long and i'm going to try so, so hard to not let that happen again. this story and all of you truly keep me going.
> 
> and before i go, thank you so, so much for nearly fifty kudos and almost a thousand hits. i can't believe so many people continued to visit this story while i was gone and supported me. thank you all for waiting and i hope you can understand. i love you all <3
> 
> and if you want, come and visit me on tumblr where i talk all about detroit: become human: [@mollyinthewater](https://mollyinthewater.tumblr.com)


	14. Never Unscarred

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Molly begins to deal with a new repercussion of her deviancy.
> 
> song of the chapter: midnight thoughts by set it off

"Today, our people finally emerged from a long night."

Molly's eyes trailed to the man in front of her, Markus standing up on the stage as he gave a speech to the newly liberated androids, the rest of the fellow leaders with them. Snow was falling slowly, flakes here and there, swirling in the air and landing on Molly's uniform.

Her eyes squinted slightly as she looked at Markus, a strange feeling washing over her, one of apprehension and familiarity that seemed to say, “ _Hadn't this happened before?”_

"We suffered in silence."

The RK800 looked away from the deviant leader, changing to focus on what was in front of her and the wooden platform beneath her feet. It felt as if she was in a fog, unable to process what was happening. Everything felt blurry and hazy, and she couldn't help but want to leave for some reason.

More snowflakes began to fall, somehow covering the stage in a thin layer as the air became thicker and thicker with snow. And even though Molly couldn't _feel_ the cold, an uncomfortable sensation came over her with the sudden chill, causing her to wrap her arms around her body before looking back up.

"You didn't think you were going to get away that easily, did you?" Amanda asked her, the two standing in a blizzard in the zen garden. Molly's green eyes widened, a new feeling overtaking her: fear.

Some part of the young girl knew that this wasn't right. Hadn't this already happened? Wasn't Amanda gone?

She should have been _gone._

"We own you," Amanda spat out, looking at Molly with so much discontent and disappointment in her dark brown eyes that the android could barely stand to look at them, while at the same time unable to look away. _"You obey us."_

"Amanda!" Molly called out, but it was too late. The A.I. had disappeared, leaving Molly all alone in the storm. She put her right arm up, trying to shield her face from the wind and snow around her as she began to slowly move forward.

The emergency exit. She could use it to leave. She had to get to it, she just had to. She couldn't remember how she knew about it or where it was, but it didn't matter. All that mattered was that she had to use it and fast.

As Molly made her way through the blizzard, she continued to hear Markus' speech, his voice echoing and warped within the mind palace. She couldn't really understand what he was saying, and yet, she knew every word of his speech.

Suddenly, Molly's eyes fluttered, causing her to stop moving. Once she stopped blinking, she saw herself back on the stage with Markus and the others, but something still felt off. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw movement, looking down to see her right arm moving to rest by her side, her gun in her hand. She couldn't feel it, however, couldn't register the familiar coldness and roughness of the metal, couldn't even register the movement of her arm.

Her eyes fluttered once again, returning her to the blizzard within her mind palace.

She had to be faster.

A few more moments passed before Molly finally made it to where she remembered the emergency exit being. She brought down her right hand, ready to place it on the pedestal and leave.

But it wasn't there.

The small pedestal was there, along with the strange, rounded statue that surrounded it, but the surface of the emergency exit was smooth, no outline of a hand for Molly to place hers on and no blue lights being emitted from the marble.

Just a regular statue.

The android put her hand on the pedestal anyway, hoping that it would still work, that maybe it was okay. It had to be okay.

Nothing happened.

"No, no, no," Molly whispered out, her LED spinning a bright red. Something icy and unyielding, something that wasn't the cold around her, struck her chest, overtaking her whole body as her unnecessary breaths began to grow more shallow. She pushed her hand down against the pedestal again, but still, nothing happened. No exit, no calm, no pause.

Nothing.

"Amanda!" Molly yelled out, taking her hand off of the statue and turning around. There was so much snow, most of her surroundings weren't visible, just a white, thick haze. "Amanda! You can not do this! Do not do this!"

Kamski—she remembered now, the man full of secrets and who had created her—had lied to her. There was no emergency exit, there was never one in the first place, and now there was never going to be one ever.

She was stuck.

Notifications were popping up in her vision, ones about her thirium pump beating too fast and her stress levels climbing too high, but they didn't matter. Nothing mattered to Molly as she stood there, failing to think of a way out as her throat began to tighten and her eyes burned. Thoughts were racing through her head, ones of how she failed, how she failed Markus and the others, how she would never be a deviant, how she would never see Hank again.

It was over.

Molly felt something wet on her face as she looked down, staring at her hands and the ice beginning to grow on them, spreading from her wrist to her upper arm all too quickly. Before she could try to do anything to stop it, before she could even react, her eyes fluttered once more, bringing her back to the stage.

And it wasn't like the RK800 had ever had an out-of-body experience before, but those were the first words that popped up in her head at the feeling she was experiencing. Her right arm was being raised, the gun held comfortably in her hand, ready to point at Markus' head. She could still hear herself inside the mind palace, screaming for Amanda, a mix of words that were mostly made up of "no" and "stop."

But it was fruitless. Molly pointed the gun at the back of Markus' head as the androids cheered for their savior and snowflakes floated in the air, sparkling in the moonlight. Before North could tackle her, Simon could push Markus out of the way, or Josh could pull the gun out of her hand, she pulled the trigger.

And then

everything went

blue.

* * *

A sharp gasp made its way out of Molly’s throat as she jerked awake, her eyes wide as she sat up. Her chest was heaving quickly, rising and falling over and over again.

The android’s hands found purchase on her sides, her right hand gripping on to the back of the couch and her other hand grabbing on to the cushion beneath her. 

**[Stress levels: 81%]**

Calm down, Molly needed to _calm down._

But how could she after… after whatever that was? Seeing herself up on the stage again, not being able to regain control, killing—

**[Stress levels: 87%]**

She wasn’t very good at this, was she?

Molly closed her eyes, having enough sense to be able to know that she needed to focus on her breathing. Her breaths were coming in and out much too fast, and if she kept it up, there was a high chance of her overheating. Plus, attempting to bring her breathing pattern to a normal pace would most likely help her with her stress levels, which were, ironically, bringing her even more stress at the moment.

It was still so early after the revolution that not much with android programming had been changed except for the fact that deviancy allowed androids to be in control of themselves. Markus and the others hadn't even met up with CyberLife or any of the people in control over there; therefore, one of the biggest consequences of deviancy remained: if a deviant's stress levels rose too high, they would begin to self-destruct.

But how could Molly possibly even begin to relax when just the threat of herself was lingering? 

And that wasn't the only thing that was remaining inside the young android's thoughts. Against her closed eyelids, she could still see remnants of what she had experienced. All the snow, the broken exit, the stage and the gun and Markus _and his blood—_

Something cold and wet pressed against Molly's left arm, her synthetic skin exposed thanks to her short-sleeve shirt, and her eyes snapped open at the sudden contact. Her whole body seemed to react, too, a flinch coming over her and her arm immediately letting go of the soft material of the couch and reeling back.

Molly looked to her left, pushing away notifications left and right so that her vision could be clear enough for her to see what had touched her. In the dimness of the moonlight peering through the living room windows and the natural clarity of her advanced sight, the RK800 found herself looking at Sumo, who was sitting on the ground and cocking his head at her. The St. Bernard emitted a high-pitched whine as he pressed his nose against her again, this time on her thigh.

The android pulled her legs closer to her body, forcing herself to sit up more so that she could cross them. She turned the slightest bit so that it would be easier for her when she reached out to the dog, placing a shaky hand on top of his furry head.

"I–" Molly began to speak, but her voice retreated to a garble of static. She closed her mouth immediately, knowing that her current stress levels were restricting her from being able to talk. She stared at the dog for a few more moments before her vision began to get distorted once more, this time due to some kind of blurriness. 

Molly blinked a few times, trying to clear her sight, when suddenly a wet feeling came across her face, slowly covering her cheeks and making its way to her jawline. Her eyebrows knit together a little as she brought her right hand up to her face, her left one still resting on Sumo and her breathing beginning to slowly but surely normalize.

Her face really _was_ wet. Her fingers touched a thin liquid and she pulled her hand away from her face, looking at her fingertips.

**[Saline solution overflowing in optical compartments]**

She was _crying._

Molly huffed, letting out a quiet sound that was a borderline sob. She rubbed her hand against her cotton pants, the tie-dyed material darkening a little thanks to the moisture of her tears. 

This was irregular, to say the least. Molly had never cried in her life. Though, she was only three months old, and most of that time had been spent back at CyberLife as her previous flaws had been "corrected." But still, Molly didn't cry. She was an _android._

But that didn't matter anymore, did it? It was hard to get rid of the habit of restricting herself from human actions due to her non-human self, but being an android didn't stop her anymore when it came to showing emotions so vividly. Being a deviant allowed her to show confidence, fear, morality, and now, apparently, sadness.

Molly's breaths hiccuped a little as she took her hand off of Sumo's head and wiped her face more, getting rid of the tear tracks on her heated cheeks. 

**[Stress levels: 76%]**

Her stress levels had gone down a little, but it certainly wasn't enough for her to comfortably reenter stasis. And even then, she was afraid of possibly going through whatever that had been once again. The memories were still fresh and her mind and while she was finding it easier to not keep on seeing her pointing the gun at Markus and instead focusing on Sumo's soft pants and his big, brown eyes, she still couldn't come up with a faster way to calm down.

The android made herself take a deep breath as she turned her body, sitting so that she was facing forward. She noticed that the blanket she had been using had been strewn off onto the ground, most likely having happened when she had been in stasis. After picking it up and setting it back on the couch, the blanket now folded neatly, Molly fixed her hair a little, placed her hands on her thighs and closed her eyes.

She had to figure out how to lower her stress levels. She recalled Daniel, trying to get him to calm down in order for Emma to be safe, but she pushed those thoughts away, not wanting to remember how that situation ended. Then there was Carlos Ortiz's android, his stress levels rising as Molly tried to get information out of him. She couldn't let them get too high, so she had to speak gently with him, having to tell him a few times how she was only trying to help him and keep him safe.

Molly had been there to help androids calm down, so perhaps that was the solution? Another person being with the stressed deviant, there to help them calm down. So maybe...

The RK800 opened her eyes and turned around a little, staring down the dark hallway that contained the door to Hank's room.

She immediately looked away, shaking her head. No, she was most definitely _not_ going to go and bother the lieutenant. He was sleeping, this was _her_ problem, and he was already doing so much for her as it was. Letting her stay with him, taking her to get clothes, and even helping her with getting her old job back. 

No, Molly was not going to get up and ask him for help with this. He didn't deserve that. 

Neither did she.

But perhaps... she could get up and go somewhere? Not Hank's room, but elsewhere, some place that could help. Doing a quick bit of research showed that that was a way that some humans calmed down, going out and taking a walk, whether it was mindless or to a certain destination.

Molly took another deep breath and stood up, walking past Sumo who had lay down on the ground next to the couch and was beginning to fall asleep again. She looked at the front door for a second before turning around and going down the hallway, opening up the door to the closet that currently contained her clothes. She was only wearing one of the new sets of sleepwear she had bought the other day, a matching shirt and pair of pants that had a pink and purple tie-dye pattern. 

She grabbed a pair of light gray socks, putting them on and then slipping on her shoes. Molly stared at the drawers for a second before opening the top one, picking out a tan-colored hair tie and putting her hair up in a ponytail. It was different to have her hair styled in a way that wasn't down, but the feeling of it not hanging by her face was nice. In a way, it almost made her feel more focused on her current task at hand.

The android was about to close the drawer when something caught her eye, forcing her to stop and stare at an article of clothing that had been folded and pushed to the very back of the drawer.

**[Stress levels: 72%]**

Her CyberLife jacket.

Molly could hear the thumping of her thirium pump as she looked at the old piece of her uniform. She glanced at her bare arms, then looking up at her corduroy jacket that was currently hanging in the closet. The yellow light of her LED was in the corner of her eye, being reflected against the wall in front of her. There were bits of red going in and out of the flickering color.

Molly grabbed the CyberLife jacket and shut the drawer before closing the door to the closet and walking out of the house.

As the RK800 stood in front of the door to Hank's house, putting her jacket on, an autonomous taxi drove up to the curb. She had thought about ordering one, but she hadn't specifically done it herself. She must have done it subconsciously, Molly thought, as she watched the taxi stop straight ahead of her and open its doors to the chilly night. She walked over to it and got inside, sitting down on the comfortable backseat of the car.

She may have called it, but she had yet to give it a destination. Molly had no idea as to where she could go. The only other place that she would be welcomed would be Markus' house, but she didn't want to be asking for help from anyone. She needed to do this by herself, alone, and she needed to go someplace where nobody would be. Some place where she could _think._

_"Why did you bring us here?"_

_"Gotta clear my head. Stay in the car or don't, I don't care."_

The doors closed and the taxi began driving, Molly closing her eyes and coming up with the only place she could think of that matched the description that she wanted. She told the taxi the location and it followed her order, making its way to the location. 

It wasn't like she really wanted to be going there, because she didn't. She didn't want to even be thinking about this place, but she also didn't want to be thinking about what she had seen. What she had _done._

Deep breaths.

"You have reached your destination. Thank you for travelling with Detroit Taxis. We look forward to seeing you again soon."

Before Molly even knew it, the car came to a stop and the doors opened once more. Cold air filled the vehicle as she opened her eyes and got out. The car drove away, leaving Molly standing on a thin layer of snow and looking out into a memory-ridden place.

Riverside Park.

Molly slowly walked forward, pulling the cuffs of her jacket down some so that her hands could clench the familiar material. She could feel the sharpness of the winter air as she moved towards the playground, but the coldness unaffected her synthetic skin. 

It was dead quiet, just like the last time she had been there. Barely a week had gone by and yet it already felt like so much time had passed since she and Hank had visited this place. Since he had looked at her with such disdain, spoken to her with so much anger.

Since he had pointed a gun at her and asked her if she was afraid to die.

The answer hadn't been clear then but it had been a yes. Molly knew even then deep down that it had been a yes, but her fear of being a deviant had outweighed her fear of non-existence.

The young girl stopped walking, standing right in front of the railing of the edge of the park. She stared out into the night, looking down at the dark water below her. The blue liquid waded softly, moonlight being reflected off its surface. The river was unclear, its contents unknown. To Molly, it seemed infinite. No start, no end, just _there._

**[Stress levels: 67%]**

Molly pulled her eyes away from the water and looked ahead at the skyline in front of her. A heavy feeling came over her, the thought of _"I shouldn't have come here"_ being loudly spoken inside her head. And maybe that voice was right. What was she doing there?

What was she doing _at all?_

No, she couldn't be thinking like that... she had come there for a distraction and that was what she was going to find.

But she felt like she should at least be trying to figure out what had happened while she had been in stasis. It wasn't like she had been going through her memory files, and even if she had been, she wouldn't have seen what she had. She would've seen herself escaping the zen garden in time to stop herself from hurting Markus.

Had there been an error in the memory? How would that have even been possible in the first place? Deviancy seemed like the obvious answer but she hadn't heard of any deviants experiencing side effects like that.

Then again, deviancy changed many things about Molly. It made her more human, or at least allowed her to act more human.

The human equivalency of stasis was sleep—Hank seemed to like reminding her of that since he frequently referred to her entering stasis as "going to sleep." And while she was in "sleep," she saw a version of a memory that was incorrect and all sorts of wrong. 

Molly's eyes suddenly widened at the word that popped into her head after her description of her experience in stasis.

Nightmare. _That's_ what that was. She had had a nightmare.

How was that even possible? Androids _couldn't_ have nightmares. It wasn't in their programming and there was no consequence of deviancy that simply added it to an android's code.

But... maybe it wasn't a nightmare. Well, not a real one, that was. Molly was an RK model, and as an RK model, she had the ability to pre-construct and reconstruct events. She could see how crimes had occurred and plan out her actions before doing them, knowing what to do and what not to do.

That must have been it. Her pre-construction ability must have subconsciously created an idea of what could have happened if Molly hadn't been able to use the emergency exit. The way Amanda had spoken to her had been a little different, but nonetheless, that had to be the explanation as to why she had seen what she did.

She made a note to ask Markus if he had ever experienced something like that before another thought came across her mind. Going back into the mind palace, seeing her handler again... it had all felt so real. For the last few days, she had been so worried about the possibility of seeing that place again or, even worse, the A.I. Molly couldn't help herself as she checked the same thing she had been checking at least once a day ever since she deviated.

**[Mind palace status: Offline]**

Molly sighed, moving her eyes up to the star-filled sky. Ever since she used the emergency exit that night on the stage, her mind palace had gone offline. She could no longer enter it, though it wasn't like she would ever want to. Not yet, at least. She figured that the exit had somehow corrupted it enough that it was broken, in a sense.

That was good. Molly didn't want it fixed. Not if that meant her handler could come back—not like she wasn't concerned about that already and all the other issues she had to worry about.

Deviancy had gotten rid of the mind palace, but it wasn't like that had magically solved all of her problems. If anything, deviancy was causing her to have even more of them.

**[Saline solution overflowing in optical compartments]**

**[Turn off notifications for saline solution complications?]**

**[Y/N]**

**[Y]**

Molly leaned against the bar of the railing, putting her elbows on it and resting her head against her left hand. Snow began to lightly fall as tears streamed down her face, her LED now spinning a bright red.

Molly wasn't sure if she liked deviancy. She wasn't even sure if she liked _anything._ It felt like every little thing was a challenge, from forming opinions to trying to stop acting like her old self. But deviancy didn't replace who she was, it merely allowed her to expand. She couldn't help it if she was having a harder time than most androids. She couldn't even get rid of her CyberLife jacket.

**[Stress levels: 73%]**

The RK800 wiped her tears away and took off her jacket, holding it in front of her and having its back facing her so that she could see the word "CyberLife" in its perfect font.

_“We just thought that you wouldn’t wanna be wearing that anymore, since it, you know… labels you.”_

Of _course_ Molly knew that her jacket labelled her, that was the whole point. She was CyberLife's most advanced prototype, their first ever detective model, she had been theirs.

But that wasn't true anymore. CyberLife no longer owned her. She was a deviant—at least, she believed she was.

"I..." Molly stared at her jacket, burning holes into it as she gripped tightly onto its shoulders. "I am not yours. Not anymore." Her voice was laced with static, but it was there, and against the silence of the empty playground, it was loud enough. 

"I am..." Molly took a deep breath and she could practically feel the stress rolling off of her as she formed her next choice of words.

"I am free."

The android knew that already, but saying it out loud felt different. _Stronger._ More like the truth. Everything was confusing and new but it was her liberation. CyberLife no longer ordered her around. She wasn’t theirs anymore.

Instead, she was hers, and hers alone.

"I am _free_ ," Molly repeated, her voice raised in volume and a small smile growing on her face. Her tears had finally stopped once again and she took a step back from the railing, icy air slowly filling up her throat and chest cavity as she took long, deep breaths.

**[Stress levels: 43%]**

Mission successful.

Her stress levels were still decreasing as Molly turned around, knowing that it was time to head back to Hank's house. Despite it being three in the morning, a part of her still worried that he would somehow notice her absence. She called a taxi and began walking towards the street, her jacket still in her hands.

She soon stopped, though, noticing a trash can to her left. She turned towards it and looked down at her jacket.

No, not _her_ jacket. CyberLife's jacket. 

_"I am free."_

The jacket lay at the bottom of the garbage can as Molly got into the taxi and left the park.

* * *

here is yet another wonderful commission, this time done by the talented [@unusualmuffin-art](https://unusualmuffin-art.tumblr.com) over on tumblr <3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Molly understands deviancy and her newfound freedom better.
> 
> i hope you all had a wonderful holiday season!! it's so nice to get back into writing this story oh my goodness. 
> 
> i have finals in two weeks, so in case any of y'all have them, too, good luck! and if you've already taken them, i'm sure you did amazing!! talk to you all soon <3
> 
> also thank you so much for 1000 hits and 50 kudos!! such big numbers omg. i'm so thankful for all of you!!
> 
> if you want, come and visit me on tumblr where i talk all about detroit: become human: [@mollyinthewater](https://mollyinthewater.tumblr.com)


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